Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Members: Correspondence

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 5 June 2023 from the hon. Member for Wirral West and the Leader of Wirral Council on the Leverhulme Estates planning appeals.

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to correspondence of 12 April and 5 May 2023 from Wirral Council on the Leverhulme Estates planning appeals.

Dehenna Davison: I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member's correspondence. The department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Honourable Members. A response was issued on 21st June 2023.

Rented Housing: Northumberland

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to help improve the quality of (a) social and (b) private rented housing in Northumberland.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to help improve the quality of (a) social and (b) private rented housing in Northumberland.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to take steps to restrict how landlords can use rent received from tenants on housing benefit in non-decent homes.

Dehenna Davison: The Levelling Up White Paper set out our ambition to reduce the number of non-decent homes by 50% by 2030 with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas, highlighting our commitment to level up the sector and ensure all renters have good quality homes. We are committed to ensuring that rented home are decent, regardless of whether tenants have received housing benefit or not.In the Social Housing White Paper: Charter for Social Housing Residents the government committed to a range of measures to drive up the quality of social housing, including through the introduction of a new, proactive consumer regulation regime and a review of the Decent Home Standard. Our Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will bring in a rigorous new regime where the Regulator of Social Housing will proactively inspect landlords and will have the power to issue unlimited fines. It will be able to intervene in cases where tenants' lives are being put at risk and, in the very worst cases, it will have the power to instruct that properties are brought under new management.The Renters (Reform) Bill will deliver a fairer, more secure, and higher quality private rented sector that is fit for the 21st century. It will deliver the government's commitment to 'a better deal for renters' - improving the system for responsible tenants and good faith landlords. The Bill will legislate to abolish section 21 'no fault' evictions so that tenants have greater security in their homes and are empowered to challenge poor conditions. We remain fully committed to implementing these reforms and will bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity to apply the Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector to give renters safer, better value homes and remove the blight of poor-quality homes in local communities.The English Housing Survey shows that between 2010 and 2021 there was a reduction in non-decent homes in the private and social housing sectors of 22 per cent, from 1.8 million to 1.4 million.

Retail Trade: Empty Property

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of proposals for high street rental auctions on community amenities in (a) Huddersfield constituency and (b) West Yorkshire.

Dehenna Davison: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 187515 on 12th June.

Public Houses: Empty Property

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of proposals for high street rental auctions on pubs.

Dehenna Davison: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 186998 on 8th June 2023.

Housing: Construction

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on changes in the levels of projected housebuilding in each local authority area since January 2023.

Rachel Maclean: The information requested is not held centrally.

Cultural Heritage: Environment Protection

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating protections for landscapes featured in classic works of literature under planning rules.

Rachel Maclean: While literary landscapes are not subject to a separate designation within the planning system, they are protected more generally through the National Planning Policy Framework. For example, the Framework states that planning policies and decisions should recognise the character and beauty of the countryside, and local authorities are expected to protect heritage assets which can include landscapes.

Housing and Rehabilitation: Charities

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department makes assessments of the effectiveness of charities commissioned by local authorities to provide (a) housing support and (b) rehabilitation services.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of charities commissioned by local authorities to provide (a) housing support and (b) rehabilitation services.

Felicity Buchan: Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning and assessment of local housing-support and rehabilitation services. They are best placed to understand local need and to assess the effectiveness of charities they commission.The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities plans to evaluate the effectiveness of our work are set out in our evaluation strategy.

Supported Housing: Care Leavers

Paula Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to recruit more supported lodgings hosts to care for teenagers and care leavers aged 16 to 25.

Felicity Buchan: The Government supports the use of supported lodgings as a good option for some care leavers to assist with the transition from care to independent living, but only where it is high-quality and the young person is ready for the level of independence it promotes.As set out in the Stable Homes, Built on Love Implementation Strategy our long-term ambition is to have a universal offer of wrap around support and accommodation for care leavers through the expansion of Staying Close and by promoting and sharing good practice on supported lodgings.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what resources her Department provides to (a) its chemicals division and (b) the Health and Safety Executive for implementing UK REACH; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of those resource levels at protecting (a) the environment and (b) human health.

Rebecca Pow: Defra has 25 permanent staff in post working on REACH, with a further 16 being added this year to deal with the surge in authorisation applications; the cost of this is £1.7 million. Additionally, Defra is currently forecasting £7.8 million of programme and capital spend this year for the REACH IT Service, Digital Data & Technology Services, and consultancy support. Defra also provides £1.5 million to the Environment Agency to fund staff who provide environmental input to support the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as the REACH agency. HSE’s budget for UK REACH for 2023/24 is £5.9 million. We are currently progressing work to assess the impacts of UK REACH on human health and environment.

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to establish an alternative model of registration for UK REACH; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that companies provide high quality submissions.

Rebecca Pow: The new transitional model we are developing will retain the fundamental approach and key principles of UK REACH in ensuring high levels of protection of human health and of the environment and that companies properly fulfil their regulatory obligations.

Chemicals: EU Law

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to consult with relevant external stakeholders on her Department’s proposals for replacing retained EU law on chemicals.

Rebecca Pow: Ministers and officials from each department regularly engage with stakeholders on specific policy. We are committed to engaging with stakeholders to ensure policy decisions are well informed and result in benefits for both citizens and business.

Waste: Crime

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to help tackle waste crime in Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, which is a blight on our local communities and the environment and damages legitimate businesses. We have strengthened regulators' powers, are tightening the law and have increased the Environment Agency's budget by £10 million per year to make it harder for rogue operators to find work in the sector and easier for regulators to take action against criminals. We are also providing grants to councils across the country to help them purchase equipment to tackle fly-tipping. Recipients include Birmingham City Council. Between 2013 and 2023 the Environment Agency stopped 52 illegal sites within the Birmingham area. From April 2022 to March 2023 the Environment Agency dealt with 384 incidents relating to suspected illegal waste sites/activities across the West Midlands. Around 84% of these reports which were substantiated were closed down within 90 days. In the same year, the Environment Agency closed down 15 illegal waste sites classified as high risk. This protected 20,582 properties (located within 1km of the site) and removed of 148,982 tonnes of waste. Four of these sites were in the Birmingham area.

Game: Special Protection Areas

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of shoots that are likely to be affected by the decision to remove special protection areas from General Licence GL43.

Trudy Harrison: As of 14 June 2023 we have received 58 applications, we have sent out 119 application packs and have had 456 hits on the website regarding this. We are working closely with those affected and will support them through the licencing process.

Water: Standards

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2023 to Question 186320 on Water: Standards, how many and what proportion of samples did not meet Drinking Water Inspectorate regulatory standards in (a) total and (b) broken down by each water company in each of the last five years.

Rebecca Pow: Compliance sample numbers that did not meet prescribed compliance value standards for any required parameters are listed as totals for each year 2017-2021 and these figures are sub-dived for each company as attached.Attachment for PQ 188224 (xlsx, 23.3KB)

Waste Disposal: Licensing

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent unlicensed waste disposal companies using social media to advertise their services.

Rebecca Pow: The Government recently consulted on reform of the waste carrier, broker, dealer regime in which we asked whether permit numbers should be required to be shown in advertising and also on vehicles that collect and transport waste. The government response to the consultation will be published soon. In addition to this, between April 2022 and March 2023 the Environment Agency via the Governments joint unit for waste crime, undertook a project to look at the use of social media and other digital platforms by individuals or companies operating illegal waste businesses over the internet. This project is now being adopted longer term and a specific officer to target this is being recruited.

Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what account development of policy on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances will take of the environmental principles policy statement before duty commences on 1 November 2023.

Rebecca Pow: We are developing a cross-Government Chemicals Strategy to frame the work we are doing across chemicals and put us on a path for improved chemicals management. It will set out our priorities and principles for taking regulatory action to protect human health and the environment. We are aiming to publish the Chemicals Strategy this year. This will set out our approach to PFAS. We are committed to ensuring that the Chemical Strategy is developed in line with the environmental principles. A 'Regulatory Management Options Analysis' (RMOA) on PFAS was published in spring 2023 by the Health and Safety Executive. Taking account of the Precautionary Principle, this recommended initiating risk management measures including the development of restrictions under UK REACH on certain uses of PFAS. We have accepted these recommendations.

Game: Special Protection Areas

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her decision to withdraw GL43 licences from special protection areas, what steps she is taking to protect common pheasants and red-legged partridges (a) in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency and (b) generally.

Trudy Harrison: Whilst birds are under the control of an individual whether on a permanent or temporary basis (including common pheasants and red-legged partridge), they are protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006. We are unable to comment on individual constituencies.

Sewage: Water Treatment

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that improvements to sewage treatment are paid for from profits made by the water companies over the last decade.

Rebecca Pow: Water companies must maintain and replace water and sewerage assets and infrastructure with significant ongoing investment. Companies seek funding from financial investors, to smooth the cost of investing and to spread the bill impact over a longer period of time to prevent short term ‘bill-shock’ to consumers.If a company did not pay dividends, it would struggle to get access to finance to fund investment and this would limit the level of investment and impact on service for future customers. The water sector has invested more than it has paid in dividends every year over the last decade and bills have also remained stable throughout this period.Water companies are monopoly providers of an essential service. It is therefore important to customers that decisions on dividends reflect service delivery for customers and the environment. Government has been clear that it is unacceptable for companies to profit from environmental damage.Through the Environment Act 2021, the government has given Ofwat improved powers to modify water company licenses. Ofwat has introduced a new measure that will enable it to take enforcement action against water companies that do not link dividend payments to performance for both customers and the environment. This licence condition came into effect on 17 May 2023.When water companies pay fines for their poor environmental performance the cost is borne by their shareholders, not by charging customers. In addition, Ofwat’s outcome delivery incentives ensure that where companies do not meet their performance targets, they must reimburse their customers through lower water bills in the next financial year.

Department of Health and Social Care

Global Tobacco Regulators Forum

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2023 to Question 186145 on Global Tobacco Regulators Forum, what issues were discussed at that Forum; what issues the UK delegate raised; and what the conclusions of the Forum were.

Neil O'Brien: The World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘No Tobacco Unit’ in the Health Promotion Department hosts and runs the Global Tobacco Regulators Forum (GTRF) meetings. Papers, discussions and conclusions from the meetings are not publicly available from the WHO.However, we are able to disclose that the United Kindom delegate updated the GTRF about the 11 April Government announcements in achieving Smokefree 2030 including the launch of a world first vaping swap to stop scheme, the new illicit vape enforcement squad and work to tackle youth vaping.

Rheumatology: Pharmacy

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of pharmacists working within rheumatology services.

Neil O'Brien: Rheumatology services are all locally commissioned by integrated care boards who are best placed to make decisions according to local need. Current education and training initiatives for pharmacists support pharmacists to develop the skills and knowledge to delivery high quality clinical services to patients in all sectors. In addition, commissioned through NHS England, the Centre for Post Graduate Pharmacy Education offers a range of upskilling offers for pharmacy professionals including a musculoskeletal training programme. NHS England is funding 3,000 independent prescribing training places for pharmacists in England in 2023/24, and these are open to Pharmacists working in Rheumatology services.The number of pharmacy training places annually is uncapped. In England, each year around 2,500 pharmacists enter training and the net increase in pharmacists practicing across all sectors has increased by around 1,400 per year since 2016.The Government has committed to publishing the Long Term Workforce Plan shortly. This will include projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. The plan will provide estimates of NHS workforce as a whole; however, it will not get into detail about condition-specific workforce, such as for rheumatology.

Rheumatology: Pharmacy

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of pharmacists working within rheumatology services.

Neil O'Brien: Rheumatology services are all locally commissioned by integrated care boards who are best placed to make decisions according to local need. Current education and training initiatives for pharmacists support pharmacists to develop the skills and knowledge to delivery high quality clinical services to patients in all sectors. In addition, commissioned through NHS England, the Centre for Post Graduate Pharmacy Education offers a range of upskilling offers for pharmacy professionals including a musculoskeletal training programme. NHS England is funding 3,000 independent prescribing training places for pharmacists in England in 2023/24, and these are open to Pharmacists working in Rheumatology services.The number of pharmacy training places annually is uncapped. In England, each year around 2,500 pharmacists enter training and the net increase in pharmacists practicing across all sectors has increased by around 1,400 per year since 2016.The Government has committed to publishing the Long Term Workforce Plan shortly. This will include projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. The plan will provide estimates of NHS workforce as a whole; however, it will not get into detail about condition-specific workforce, such as for rheumatology.

22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

David Duguid: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will add 22q11.2 Syndromes to the standard blood screen test for new-borns.

Neil O'Brien: There are no plans to add 22q11.2 syndromes to the new-born blood spot screening programme. Proposals to expand screening for new-born blood spot screening must be submitted to the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) for assessment against its criteria to ensure screening is introduced where the benefit clearly outweighs the harm.The UK NSC runs an annual call for topics in September where members of the pubic and stakeholders can submit new topics to be considered. The UK NSC carried out a review for 22q11.2 Syndrome in 2018 following an annual call submission and recommended that at the time the evidence was insufficient to recommend a screening programme.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Prescriptions

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with (i) NHS England and (ii) other bodies on raising public awareness of HRT prepayment certificates.

Maria Caulfield: The Department has engaged extensively with stakeholders when developing and implementing the hormone replacement therapy prescription prepayment certificate (HRT PPC) which was introduced on 1 April this year.We have worked with print and broadcast media to promote the HRT PCC, updated relevant NHS England and NHS Business Services Authority web pages, and used social media to amplify our key messages.We have also engaged with various key stakeholder groups including those representing clinicians and patients as well as a number of menopause charities. We shared key resources with stakeholders encouraging them to amplify across their channels and engage their wider networks to further maximise reach, helping to raise awareness of the HRT PPC and ensure patients can benefit.

Mortality Rates

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for the trend in the level of excess deaths in the last 12 months.

Neil O'Brien: The Department will continue to monitor and report on levels of excess deaths. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities regularly publishes estimates of excess mortality in England. They adjust for population growth and ageing. This provides further insight on the causes of death driving the excess mortality over the last 12 months.Whilst a detailed assessment of trends in the causes of excess deaths is not available, it is likely that a combination of factors has contributed, including high flu prevalence, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy and an interim report will be published in the summer. The strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. The strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England including, cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal conditions. Interventions set out in the strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.

NHS: Software

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the number of computers in the NHS that use the (a) Windows XP and (b) Windows 7.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Medical Equipment

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to support research into developing low carbon propellant inhalers for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Medical Records: Databases

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NHS trusts have electronic patient records in place.

Will Quince: At present, 88% of NHS trusts (186) have an electronic patient records (EPR) in place, which is forecast to increase to 91% by December 2023, against a target of 90%. Our ambition is for all trusts to meet our stated core digitisation standards, with 95% (200 trusts) to have an EPR in place by March 2025.

NHS: Procurement

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to verify the environmental claims of companies that the NHS procures products from.

Will Quince: The National Health Service has set out the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap, a series of milestones to help suppliers align with the NHS’ net zero ambitions. The first milestone, implemented in April 2022, requires that all NHS procurements include a minimum 10% net zero and social value weighting.The second milestone, implemented on 1 April 2023, requires that suppliers bidding for any new contract above £5 million per annum publish a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) for emissions. This requirement will be extended to all procurements from April 2024.NHS England has also recently launched the Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment. This online voluntary self-assessment and reporting tool allows suppliers to understand how to align with the NHS net zero and sustainability ambitions.

NHS: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to roll out NHS training and development available to doctors to all NHS staff.

Will Quince: It is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure that their staff are trained and competent to carry out the role for which they are employed, and for making decisions about the ongoing professional training and development requirements. Regulated healthcare professionals will need to meet the standards of education and training set by their profession’s regulator, for example the General Medical Council or Nursing and Midwifery Council.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the financial implications for his policies of trends in the retention rates of experienced NHS staff; and if he will conduct a review into the adequacy of (a) financial and (b) other incentives to support the retention of those staff.

Will Quince: NHS priorities and operational planning guidance 2023/24 has asked systems to refresh their 2022/23 whole system workforce plans to improve staff retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise.  Staff wellbeing should be strategically aligned with elective recovery plans, including workforce demand and capacity planning.In terms of financial incentives, the Government recently published new pension reforms which will provide a financial incentive for members of the NHS Pension Scheme nearing retirement age. From 1 April 2023, members of the 1995 Section who retire and return to the NHS can join the 2015 Scheme and build more pension savings. From 1 October 2023, for the first time, partial retirement will be available to members of the 1995 Section, giving staff in late career the opportunity to extend their working lives. In discussion with their employer, they can draw down between 20% and 100% of their pension whilst continuing to work, keeping both their pension and salary.

Radiology

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on support imaging networks to help develop IT systems and image-sharing technologies.

Will Quince: The Secretary of State holds a number of discussions with NHS England on a range of issues, including diagnostic transformation. The Department is working with NHS England to support the maturity development of imaging networks across England by December 2023.

Drugs: Licensing

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the criteria used by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in granting licences for medicines.

Will Quince: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) together with the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) and its expert advisory groups (EAGs) operates procedures to support the development, evaluation and granting of licences of medicinal products. In the United Kingdom, all medicinal products for human use are subject to a system of licensing laid down by the UK Human Medicines Regulations (HMRs). Medicines licensing procedures protect public health by ensuring that harmful products do not get licensed and that products are licensed with appropriate indications, dosage, precautions and warnings. For a marketing authorisation to be granted, medicinal products have to meet pre-defined and stringent criteria on efficacy, safety and quality. A marketing authorisation can only be granted when the benefit-risk in relation to quality, safety and efficacy is found to be positive.The MHRA has a number of licensing pathways available, with the aim of ensuring the products can be made available for patients in the UK in the shortest time possible and to support and protect public health. Common for all these procedures, is the focus on the quality, safety and efficacy of the product. The review is conducted by a multidisciplinary team of assessors, to ensure a thorough and broad assessment of the product. Independent advice from the CHM and its EAGs is sought for any complex issues or those that may pose a risk to patients or public health by the identification of Major Objections. Pharmaceutical companies are required to provide a risk management plan outlining known safety concerns, pharmacovigilance activities and risk minimisation measures. In addition, for novel products, additional safety monitoring is put in place for the early stages of the lifecycle.

Radiology

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Global Radiologists Programme in filling NHS radiology vacancies.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made.

Doctors: Training

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the (a) funding for and (b) number of specialty training posts in line with changes in the number of medical training places.

Will Quince: To support the workforce as a whole, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future. In 2022, Health Education England announced 750 additional medical specialty training posts across all programmes, and in 2023, HEE announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts have been created for this year.

Abortion: Drugs

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish an impact assessment into the change in the law allowing women to take abortion bills at home.

Maria Caulfield: The Department plans to publish the Impact Assessment on the change in the law allowing home use of pills for early medical abortion in due course.

Medical Treatments: Low Incomes

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to ensure people from low-income backgrounds have access to advanced therapies for (a) rare, (b) genetic and (c) undiagnosed conditions.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department is taking to increase accessibility for cell and gene therapies.

Will Quince: The Government is committed to supporting access to clinically and cost effective new treatments for National Health Service patients, including for rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the NHS on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund treatments recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance. This means that any treatment positively appraised by NICE should be available for clinicians to offer to all their eligible patients.NHS England has struck commercial agreements with the manufacturers of several cell and gene therapies that have enabled NICE to recommend them for routine NHS use or through the Cancer Drugs Fund. These treatments are now available for the treatment of all NHS patients.The Innovative Medicines Fund was launched in June 2022 and will allow patients to benefit from early access to the most promising medicines where there is too much uncertainty for NICE to be able to recommend routine funding. This will further support the rapid introduction of effective new medicines for the benefit of NHS patients.

Eating Disorders: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support young people in danger of developing an eating disorder.

Maria Caulfield: We know that eating disorders are complicated mental health conditions caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and environmental factors. It is unclear exactly why someone develops an eating disorder. Since 2016, investment in children and young people's community eating disorder services has risen every year, with an extra £54 million per year from 2022/23. This extra funding will enhance the capacity of community eating disorder teams across the country.The long-term aim set out within the NHS Long-Term Plan is to improve community support for serious mental illnesses, such as eating disorders, to avoid the need for an inpatient admission where possible. Investment in Community Eating Disorder teams for children and young people will support prevention, early identification and intervention, offering swift access to treatment. To accelerate the provision of early intervention eating disorder services for young adults, in 2019/20 NHS England funded 18 sites to implement “First Episode Rapid Early intervention for Eating Disorders” model for 16 to 25 year olds. The model is now being adopted more widely.We are also focussed on delivering commitments made in the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health green paper to provide early intervention by accelerating the roll out of Mental Health Support Teams. This will support school staff to identify children and young people at risk off or showing signs of mental health difficulties including potential early signs of an eating disorder.There are currently 287 mental health support teams in place in around 4,700 schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issue.TARGET DATE 23/06/2023Mental health support teams now cover 26% of pupils, a year earlier than originally planned and this will increase to 399 teams, covering around 35% of pupils, by April 2023 with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024.

Health Services: Artificial Intelligence

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to commission research on the potential impact of artificial intelligence on (a) diagnostics, (b) health economics and (c) clinicians' workloads.

Will Quince: Since 2017, the Department has invested £148 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and an additional £123 million through the AI in Health and Care Award to research artificial intelligence in healthcare. This is funding research into the potential impact of artificial intelligence on diagnosis and treatment for major conditions, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and research into how the technology can be used to improve NHS services and reduce the burden of clinicians’ workloads.

Mental Illness: Community Care

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many crisis houses are managed by the NHS as of June 2023.

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many crisis houses are commissioned by the NHS but not managed by its staff.

Maria Caulfield: There are currently around 600 different types of crisis alternatives services operating across the country, including around 70 crisis houses, providing an alternative to accident and emergency or psychiatric admission. This number will continue to grow with further investment over the remaining NHS Long Term Plan period to March 2024. NHS England has advised that the number of crisis houses which are National Health Service commissioned but not managed by NHS staff is not held centrally.

Taplow Manor

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that patients at Taplow Manor Hospital receive adequate care.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) he and (b) his Department has held recent meetings with the families of former patients at Taplow Manor Hospital.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and the local provider collaboratives are working intensively with Active Care Group to improve the quality of care at the group’s hospitals, including Taplow Manor Hospital. This includes increased scrutiny, surveillance and oversight, such as reviews of incident reports, safety reviews and case manager visits. Taplow Manor Hospital is currently in special measures and will be kept under close review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and re-inspected to check sufficient improvements have been made. If on re-inspection, the CQC is still not satisfied with the progress made, it will take further action if necessary to protect the people using this service, including potentially removing the registration of the service. We will continue to work with the CQC and the National Health Service to ensure all mental health settings are providing the standard of care expected. Neither Ministers nor officials in the Department have met with family members of former patients at the hospital.

Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Medical Equipment

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS plans to use low carbon propellants treatments for asthma and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients promptly once these therapies have been approved for use by patients.

Helen Whately: The National Health Service remains committed to reducing the carbon impact of inhalers. As part of all inhaler prescriptions, structured medication reviews and asthma reviews, consideration should be given to moving patients to lower carbon options, where it is clinically appropriate to do so.NHS England has worked with key partners, industry representatives, patient groups, and clinicians to develop a package of guidance and resources to support improved respiratory disease management and shared decision-making on inhaler choice.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of applying the Scandinavian model of career breaks to workforce planning and retention in the NHS.

Will Quince: The NHS Retention Programme is continuously seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well. This includes considering and building up the evidence base, including the effect of career breaks. The National Health Service terms and conditions provides for career breaks and all NHS employers will have a career break policy in place.

Doctors: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if will take steps to improve continuous professional development programmes for clinicians.

Will Quince: Individual National Health Service employers are responsible for making decisions about the ongoing professional training and development requirements of their staff.

Health Professions

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an estimate of the total number of years' experience held by all NHS (a) nurses and (b) doctors in each year since 2010.

Will Quince: The information requested is not centrally collected.

Doctors

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take in the workforce plan to improve the retention rate for doctors.

Will Quince: The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will seek to ensure that we have the right numbers of staff with the right skills to deliver high quality services fit for the future.  This includes improving retention for all staff groups, including doctors.

National Clinical Directors

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) human resources support is allocated to each NHS National Clinical Director.

Will Quince: National Clinical Directors do not receive individual financial or HR support. They are supported by the programme teams in which they are embedded and have access to the organisation’s HR resources in line with all employees. Programme teams are allocated budgets to support delivery of their priorities, but National Clinical Directors are not direct budget holders.

Radiology

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Radiologists’ Workforce Census Report 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings on (a) additional costs for clinical directors to meet imaging demand and (b) the cost of outsourcing scans; and what steps his Department plans to take to ensure radiology departments are sustainable financially.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made. To support the workforce as a whole, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term plan for the next 15 years, which will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future. The plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce and will not provide detailed assessments for individual services.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of aligning the (a) pay and (b) terms and conditions of staff on the Agenda for Change contract and staff on Doctors and Dentists terms and conditions.

Will Quince: The Department has taken measures to align the terms and conditions of National Health Service staff where appropriate. There are sections in both the doctors and dentists in training contract and the specialty and specialist doctors contract which mirror the Agenda for Change contract, such as the leave and pay for new parents and balancing work and personal life. The ambition is to do the same for a future updated contract for consultants.The Department has not made an assessment of aligning the pay of staff on the Agenda for Change contract and staff on doctors and dentists terms and conditions. Where pay structures have been modernised, these reflect the specific needs of the workforces they relate to.

Neurology: Vacancies

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many neuroscience staff are employed by the NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board; and what the vacancy rate was for neuroscience staff in the NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board in the most recent period for which data is available.

Will Quince: The Human Resources system for National Health Service trusts does not hold data on the number of neuroscience staff, as there are a wide range of NHS staff who provide care for neurological conditions and neurosensory support.There were 200 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in neurology in the NHS North Central London Integrated Care System. This includes 96 FTE consultants. There were also 63 FTE scientific, therapeutic and technical staff working in neurosensory sciences.The Department does not hold the requested information on vacancy rates.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide incentives to improve the retention rates of NHS staff prior to their retirement to support the development of skills in the NHS workforce.

Will Quince: Retaining staff late-stage career is important, particularly as a third of the National Health Service workforce are aged 50 years old and over and have a wealth of skills, experience and knowledge. The national NHS Retention Programme is continuously seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well.One of the many areas of focus has been supporting later career stage staff to consider different options to stay. This has been enabled through numerous interventions, for example, legacy mentoring, where mentors in the later stages of their career bring share their experience with the next generation, flexible working, guidance for retaining doctors in late-stage careers, a menopause support programme and pensions reforms.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that clinical supervision is supernumerary in the NHS workforce plan.

Will Quince: To support the workforce as a whole, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan for the National Health Service workforce for the next 15 years. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future. It is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure sufficient provision of training supervision.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to consult with professional bodies on the future Workforce Plan.

Will Quince: NHS England has engaged with a broad range of stakeholders during the development of the long term workforce plan. The list of stakeholders includes Royal Colleges, trade unions, regulators, system leaders, third sector organisations and representation from the wider workforce, among others.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing NHS staff to take research breaks and then to return to clinical work.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made. However, there is evidence that combining research with clinical practice increases job satisfaction, enhances recruitment and retention and can be used as a mechanism to avoid burnout. It also increases research awareness and provides dedicated time across the workforce to drive best practice and evidence-based care.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) viability and (b) effectiveness of applying the proposals for the early careers framework set out in the Independent review of children's social care to NHS staff workforce planning and retention.

Will Quince: The Department is not currently planning to make an assessment of the application of the Early Career Framework set out in the Independent Review of Children's Social Care to National Health Service staff workforce planning and retention. We are working closely with the Department for Education on children’s social care reform, and will be engaging throughout the implementation phase to understand the feedback and reflections received, and to consider the learning gained.

Nurses: Flexible Working

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses currently work (a) permanent (b) bank and (c) permanent and bank work patterns.

Will Quince: The information requested is not held centrally.

Sunscreens: Low Incomes

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that families on low incomes have access to adequate sun protection products; and if he will ensure that free sun protection products are available to people who are exempt from paying for prescriptions.

Neil O'Brien: Sun protection products are not classified as medicines or medical devices. Products which are not medicines or medical devices may be prescribed by clinicians, taking into account appropriate national and local guidance on clinical and cost effectiveness. For example, NHS England guidance states that sun protection should not routinely be prescribed in primary care as the condition is appropriate for self-care. However, Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS) approved sun protection products for the indication of photodermatoses are listed in part XV of the Drug Tariff and are appropriate for being prescribed for this purpose, the list available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/otc-guidance-for-ccgs.pdfIt is for the general practitioner or other responsible clinician to work with their patient and decide on the course of treatment, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the individual always being the primary consideration. Clinicians are accountable for their prescribing decisions, both professionally and to their service commissioners.Almost 89% of prescription items in England are already provided free of charge, including to those in receipt of qualifying benefits or tax credits. For those not exempt from charges, prescription pre-payment certificates can be used to cap costs at around £2 a week for regular prescriptions. People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. The Scheme provides income related help to people who are not automatically exempt from charges but who may be entitled to full or partial help if they have a low income and savings below a defined limit.

Infectious Diseases: Disease Control

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy in negotiations on a pandemic preparedness treaty that responsibility for the (a) planning and (b) implementation of future pandemic responses will rest with the UK Government and not the World Health Organisation.

Will Quince: The United Kingdom has been clear that we will not sign up to a pandemic instrument that would compromise the UK’s ability to make domestic decisions on national measures concerning public health policy. Protecting states’ sovereign rights to determine and manage their approaches to public health is a guiding principle for negotiators of the pandemic instrument.The UK continues to negotiate the text of the pandemic instrument to ensure it delivers on our priorities. Once the instrument is agreed and adopted by World Health Organization Member States, the instrument would only become binding in the UK as a matter of international law, after satisfying the UK’s usual constitutional requirements. Parliament’s role in the UK remains undiminished in this process.

Drugs: Licensing

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many products in the D150 submission category have been waiting for Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approval for over 150 days; and how many of those products are specifically for women’s health.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of D150 applications that have taken more than 150 days to be assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the latest period for which data is available.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of D150 applications for women's health products that have taken more than 150 days to be assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the latest period for which data is available.

Will Quince: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) offers a 150-day assessment timeline for all high-quality marketing authorisation applications.A total of 1,016 medicinal products have been waiting for MHRA marketing authorisation approval for more than 150 days. Of these, 36 are for women’s health.

Strokes: Health Services

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the potential closure of the Stroke Recovery Service in Portsmouth on treatment of stroke patients in that catchment area.

Helen Whately: Due to challenging financial circumstances, Local Authority non-recurring money that had previously funded the service is now unavailable and the contract with the Stroke Association to deliver the Stroke Recovery Service in Portsmouth will end on 31 December 2023. NHS England has made no assessment of the potential impact of the closure on treatment of stroke patients in the local catchment area Local residents have been kept informed of the change and been provided with information about alternative support. The National Health Service provides treatment and rehabilitation after stroke, and assessment of social care needs through the local authority, and general practitioner practices will be able to offer support through their Social Prescribers, Care Coordinators and Health and Wellbeing Coaches.

Protective Clothing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 May 2023 to Question 186059 on Protective Clothing, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of conducting a cost-benefit analysis of the recommendation.

Will Quince: The Department relies on a wide range of evidence and research, which may include cost-benefit analyses, when making recommendations about protective clothing and patient health. Healthcare providers in all healthcare settings across England use the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual, which was published by NHS England in April 2022. This is complemented by pathogen/disease specific guidance from the UK Health Security Agency. NHS England has not conducted a cost-benefit analysis specifically for the guidance on protective clothing, nor do they have plans to do so. The focus of this guidance is on patients and their choice to wear their own masks within clinical settings.

Drugs: Licensing

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is taking to reduce backlogs in D150 applications.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the causes of the time taken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to process D150 applications.

Will Quince: Delays to the processing of marketing authorisation applications have resulted from a combination of factors, including implementation of new licensing pathways and the need to divert resource to deal with urgent and unforeseen public health issues like the COVID-19 pandemic. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is changing its assessment processes to speed up the processing of submitted applications. Resource issues are being addressed as a matter of priority with targeted recruitment. The MHRA is also implementing a new IT system to manage licensing applications and improve processing times.

Clinical Trials: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with the Scottish Government to facilitate data sharing and improve access to clinical trials in Scotland.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to increase the diversity of (a) participants and (b) researchers in clinical trials in the UK.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has taken steps to facilitate the sharing of data with (a) other Government departments, (b) the Scottish Government and (c) businesses in the life sciences sector to help develop Scotland’s life science capability and clinical trials capacity.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help increase patient access to clinical trials; and what recent discussions he has had with the devolved Administrations on best practice in this area.

Will Quince: The Department works together with other Government departments and devolved administrations to support research and access to clinical trials across the United Kingdom. Our long-term vision, set out in 'Saving and Improving Lives: The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery' was developed in collaboration with the devolved administrations and is in line with similar initiatives in England and the devolved administrations. To gain a better understanding of how health-related data flows in the UK, Professor Cathie Sudlow has been commissioned to conduct a review. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, runs the Be Part of Research service in collaboration with all the devolved administrations. Be Part of Research makes it easier for the public to find and take part in health and care research. The NIHR is also striving to improve diversity in research by analysing the demographics of participants in randomized controlled trials. The findings show that the participants' diversity, age, and gender are representative of the general population. The NIHR is dedicated to enhancing and investing in the talent pool of researchers in clinical trials. It has implemented measures to address under-representation and improve diversity. These measures include encouraging applications from diverse groups through positive action statements and expanding nomination processes for research fellowships to address under-representation based on gender and ethnicity.

Members: Correspondence

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 25 May 2023 from the hon. Member for Tooting on the Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry.

Neil O'Brien: I replied to the Honourable Member on 20 June 2023.

Food: Labelling

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government response to the petition entitled Owen's Law - Change the law around allergy labelling in UK restaurants, published on 14 July 2021, what recent progress the Food Standards Agency has made on assessing the proposal to introduce mandatory allergen labelling on restaurant menus.

Neil O'Brien: All food businesses are under a legal obligation to provide information on the presence of the 14 major allergens in food, including in the non-prepacked sector, such as in restaurants and cafes, so that people who have allergies and intolerances are able to make safe food choices. Current requirements state that for food items provided in restaurants, allergen information must be clearly signposted and can be provided in writing or verbally.The Food Standards Agency (FSA), who has policy responsibility for food safety, is currently considering how to improve the provision of information for people with allergies and researching different approaches for the provision of written and verbal information to improve the accuracy and communications of allergen information. The FSA has recently commissioned several pieces of research in this area. These will provide new evidence on the nature and extent of food hypersensitivity reactions, different international approaches to written information, and the business operating models of small and micro businesses in the non-prepacked sector. These reports will be published in due course and will be presented to the FSA Board to consider next steps.Additionally, the FSA has conducted a study visit to the Republic of Ireland to understand the practical implementation of their legislation mandating written allergen information and a workshop with key stakeholders. This evidence will be used to support careful consideration of any potential changes and to assess the impacts for both consumer safety and food businesses.

Air Pollution: London Underground

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held discussions with the Mayor of London on the potential impact of air pollution levels on the London Underground on human health.

Maria Caulfield: There have been no specific discussions.

Endometriosis

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on (a) the number of people with endometriosis and (b) the average waiting time for (i) diagnosis and (ii) medical treatment for endometriosis in each region of England in each of the last 10 years.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not held centrally. Gynaecology waiting lists in England, numbers of women waiting, and their waiting times are tracked and managed as part of the overall National Health Service focus on reducing the amount of time patients are waiting for elective care.Patients with symptoms of endometriosis will be prioritised based on clinical need. The NHS led Provider Collaborative has identified endometriosis as a priority area and recently established a group to develop further initiatives to reduce waiting times for endometriosis patients.

Department for Education

Schools: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided to Havering Council through school condition allocations.

Nick Gibb: Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. The Department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 to keep schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. This is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings at 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition with evidence of potential safety issues. The Department has announced 400 schools to date, with 239 announced in December 2022, including Parklands Primary School in Romford constituency.Havering Local Authority has been allocated a school condition allocation of £2,521,988 for the 2023/24 financial year to use in maintaining and improving the condition of its school buildings. Large multi academy trusts and voluntary aided school groups with schools in Havering will also have been allocated a school condition allocation to spend on their school buildings. Smaller and single academy trusts were invited to bid into the condition improvement fund, with outcomes now published on GOV.UK.Schools maintained by Havering Local Authority have also been allocated £300,288 in devolved formula capital in the financial year 2023/24 to spend on their own capital priorities, whilst schools in the Local Authority across all types of responsible bodies have been allocated £915,546.

Department for Education: Disability

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Disability Strategy published on 28 July 2021, which of her Department’s commitments in that strategy that have not been paused as a result of legal action have (a) been fully, (b) been partially and (c) not been implemented.

Claire Coutinho: In January 2022, the High Court declared the National Disability Strategy (NDS) was unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations.In the NDS, the department committed to providing an additional £730 million of ongoing revenue funding for children and young people with complex Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and this has now been fully implemented. In the 2022/23 financial year, there have been further increases to the department’s high needs funding, which has risen by 24% in two years to over £10 billion this financial year. This goes further than our NDS commitment of £8 billion per year and represents an increase of over 50% in the four-year period since the 2019/20 financial year. In the NDS, the department committed to opening 59 new special free schools for children with complex SEND. The department has gone further than this. As of 1 April 2023, there are 93 open special free schools and 51 open Alternative Provision (AP) free schools. There are a further 48 special schools in the pipeline.The department also committed to increasing capital investment to support the provision of high needs places. On 2 March 2023, as part of the announcement of the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, the department announced 33 new special free schools in phase 1 of the latest special free school wave.In November 2022, the department announced funding worth £21 million to go towards training 400 more educational psychologists. Being partially implemented, this new funding from 2024 builds on the £9.3 million stated in the NDS.The department’s Participation Contract supports the continued improvement of co-production at a national, local, and international level. As part of this, we empower children and young people with SEND and their families to influence SEND Policy. This contract is a three-year contract running from April 2022, ending in March 2025. The total cost of the contract is £18 million which includes consortium, grant, and the strategic reform partnership contract. Being partially implemented, this goes further than the department’s commitment in the NDS, where we said we would provide £8.6 million in the 2021/22 financial year to support involvement of families.As per our commitment in the NDS to improve supported internships in England, this is being partially implemented. The government is committed to supporting pathways to employment for disabled learners, including through strengthening the Supported Internship Programme. The department is investing £18 million until 2025 to build capacity in the Supported Internships Programme and support more young people with Education, Health and Care Plans into employment. Furthermore, in the NDS, the department committed creating an Access to Work Adjustments Passport, which will help to smooth the transition into employment and support people changing jobs, including people with SEND. This is now partially implemented, as the Department for Education works with the Department for Work and Pensions to pilot this scheme.The department remains fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. To support this, the department will be providing further details of our recent achievements to improve disabled people’s lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation, due for publication in the summer.Ahead of this, my hon. Friend, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, will write providing a list of these achievements and will place a copy in the House Library.

Children: Poverty

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of recent trends in child poverty in Portsmouth South constituency.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her policies aiming to reduce child poverty.

Claire Coutinho: The department has evaluated the impact of poverty on educational outcomes. The evidence shows that disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs are more likely to fall behind and need extra support to reach their full potential. That is why the department has a range of support in place to support pupils, families, and schools.The Schools White Paper set out a long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time. This is founded on achieving world-class literacy and numeracy. We are also investing in 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs), including Portsmouth, where outcomes in literacy and numeracy are the poorest. In these areas, we will implement a package of measures to drive school improvement and improve pupil outcomes. Portsmouth is also one of the 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) where the department will make more intensive investment on top of the significant support available to all EIAs. PEIAs are a subset of EIAs that have particularly low attainment and high rates of disadvantage.More widely, the government is committed to closing the disadvantage gap. This government’s work for the ten years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic showed that progress can be made to narrow the gap, and that the department’s policies and programmes are making an impact. We will continue to monitor progress and to deliver programmes designed to help disadvantaged pupils, for example through the Pupil Premium, introduced in 2011, and worth over £2.9 billion in 2023/24.Thanks to the measures brought in by this government, we have driven up school standards across the country. 88% of schools are now rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. The rate of improvement has been even greater in Portsmouth, where there has been an increase in schools reaching this high bar of 36% over the course of this government.In 2018, the department launched the £60 million English Hubs Programme. The 34 English Hubs are primary schools which are rated outstanding at teaching early reading. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousands of schools across England. Schools supported as partner schools outperformed non-partner schools by around 7 percentage points, when comparing the change in year 1 phonics screening check results between pre-COVID-19 pandemic and 2022.Portsmouth’s local English Hub, Springhill English Hub, is working hard to engage and support primary schools across Portsmouth to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for Portsmouth schools. The Hub has supported four schools in the city, with another six expected to become partner schools in September 2023.Schools within Portsmouth are also supported by Solent Maths Hub. Maths Hubs aim to raise the standard of mathematics education from reception through to A level, and harness mathematics leadership and expertise within an area to develop and spread excellent practice, for the benefit of all students. Maths Hubs use their networks to deliver a range of Continued Professional Development in mathematics to schools in their geographical patch.In April 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced plans to extend the £100 million Teaching for Mastery programme to reach 75% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools by 2025. This was accompanied by plans to provide more intensive Maths Hubs support to schools that need it most, including in Priority Education Investment Areas, to continue driving up the quality of mathematics teaching in schools.Outcomes, as measured by international comparison studies, show improvements in key subjects like reading and maths. Most recently, England came fourth out of the 43 countries that tested children of the same age, in the Progress in International Literacy Study (PIRLS), with an average score of 558.Providing support for vulnerable children and young people is a priority for this government. We recognise the strain that families are under and will continue to work collaboratively with local areas to ensure children, young people, and families have access to the support they need, for instance to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and in support of cost of living pressures. Many of the department’s recovery programmes, including the Recovery Premium, are especially focused on helping the most disadvantaged. Funding for the National Tutoring Programme is also allocated on the basis of disadvantage. The department’s guidance to schools highlights the help to those students in particular.The government spends over £1 billion annually delivering free school meals (FSM) to pupils in schools, as the provision of nutritious food ensures pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits, and can concentrate and learn. In addition, the department has extended the National School Breakfast programme for another year until July 2024. Overall, we are investing up to £30 million in the programme, covering the period from July 2021 to July 2024. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing, and readiness to learn.This Government has extended FSM eligibility several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. The department provides free meals for 2 million disadvantaged pupils through the benefits-related criteria. Combined with almost 1.3 million infant pupils who also receive an FSM through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, this accounts for over one third of all pupils in school, compared to one sixth of pupils in 2010.This year, the department is again investing over £200 million in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, with all local authorities in England delivering in the Easter, summer, and Christmas holidays. The programme provides healthy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Sign Language: Education

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents of deaf children participated in British sign language courses that were funded through the adult education budget in Kent and Medway in each of the last three years.

Claire Coutinho: The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which was £1.34 billion in the 2022/23 financial year.This includes qualifications in, or focusing on, British Sign Language (BSL) up to and including level 2. These qualifications include, for example, the Level 1 Award in BSL which allows learners to communicate in BSL on a range of topics that involve simple, everyday language use, thereby giving them the basic skills and confidence in production and reception of BSL.About 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.There were 60 adult (19+) education and training learning aim enrolments in the 2021/22 academic year by learners living in Kent or Medway with ‘British Sign Language’ or ‘BSL’ in their aim title. In 2020/21, there were 35 enrolments and in 2019/20, there were 87. The department does not hold information as to whether the learners taking these aims have deaf children.These figures do not correspond to learners, as learners may enrol on multiple aims. Additionally, these are funded adult (19+) education and training aim enrolments. This will include AEB-funded learning, as well as other funding provision, such as advanced learner loans.

Children: Reading

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how Family Hubs will identify children and parents who need support with reading; and how Family Hubs will strengthen bonds between parents and children.

Claire Coutinho: The Family Hubs programme is providing over £28 million to 75 local authorities to deliver targeted, evidence-based interventions to help parents chat, play and read with their children and improve their early outcomes. A proportion of this funding can be used to set up effective systems to identify families that would benefit from help and connect them to the right support to meet their needs. To assist this work, the government published guidance in 2020 to help local areas improve speech, language and communication in the early years, including an Early Language Identification Measure and Intervention tool for use with children aged two to two and a half. This tool is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/best-start-in-speech-language-and-communication.As part of the Family Hubs programme, the department is also investing £50 million to provide new and expectant parents with children aged under two with online and in-person support that will help them create the strong, loving bonds and healthy day-to-day relationships that babies and young children need. Specifically, the department is making universally accessible support available to all new parents who want and need it, with access to additional targeted support for families most in need.

Children: Reading

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to help ensure that parents have support to read with their children.

Claire Coutinho: The government is investing over £28 million to provide targeted, intensive, evidence-based support to help parents read with their young children. This investment is being delivered through the new three-year Family Hubs programme which is being rolled out in 75 local authorities, with priority given to families that will benefit most. This is supported by online resources which provide evidence-based yet highly accessible advice and ideas for parents about literacy and early language activities for children at every stage between birth and 5 years old. These resources are available at: https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/learning-to-talk/learning-to-talk-0-to-6-months/.All school pupils deserve to be taught a knowledge-rich curriculum that promotes extensive reading, both in and out of school. The National Curriculum promotes the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information. It also emphasises the importance of listening to, discussing, and reading for themselves a wide range of stories, poems, plays, and non-fiction books.Public and school libraries play an important role in supporting parents to read with their children. In a National Literacy Trust and Chase survey conducted between December 2022 and January 2023, 80% of parents with school-aged children reported that their school had a library and nearly 30% of parents stated they were borrowing more children’s books from libraries.

Special Educational Needs: Teachers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the ratio of special educational need and disability teaching staff to pupils.

Claire Coutinho: All teachers are teachers of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The department is committed to ensuring that all pupils can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers.In 2022/23, there were 20.7 pupils for every one nursery and primary school teacher, 16.8 pupils for every one secondary teacher, and 6.4 pupils for every one special school and pupil referral unit teacher.The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter their Special Educational Need (SEN), to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We want them to achieve well in their early years, at school and in further education, to find employment, to lead happy and fulfilled lives, and to experience choice and control.Through the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department is creating a new single National SEND and AP system for how needs are identified and met across education, health and care. This new single national system will set standards on what support should be made available universally in mainstream settings, as well as guidance on when an Education, Health and Care plan is required, and when specialist provision, including AP, is most appropriate for meeting a child or young person’s needs. This will mean that the right support is provided in the right place, at the right time, for children and young people with SEND.

Special Educational Needs: Assessments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for the testing of special educational needs.

Claire Coutinho: The department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan in March 2023, in which plans to reform the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan system were set out.As part of these reforms, the department intends to improve the EHC plan process. This includes establishing a single EHC plan form and supporting processes across England, including a national requirement for the use of digital technology to improve consistency and access to information.We want to ensure that EHC plans, where required, are issued as quickly as possible, so that the child or young person can access the support they need.In 2022, there were 114,457 requests for EHC plans, and 66,356 new EHC plans were issued. This is the highest number since they were introduced. It is not necessary to have a formal diagnosis of a particular condition for an EHC needs assessment to be conducted.

Teachers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an estimate of the total number of years' experience held by all state (a) primary, and (b) secondary teachers in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: Information on the school workforce in England is collected as part of the annual School Workforce Census each November. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.This publication includes information on teacher retention by length in service. Information on the total number of years of experience of teachers is not currently available. This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Children: Reading

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to ensure that all schools have access to high-quality books for children.

Nick Gibb: The Department believes that all pupils deserve to be taught a knowledge-rich curriculum that promotes the extensive reading of books and other kinds of texts, both in and out of school. School libraries complement public libraries in encouraging pupils to do this.It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian. Many headteachers recognise the important role school libraries play in improving literacy, encouraging pupils to read for pleasure, and ensuring that suitable library facilities are provided.The National Curriculum requires teachers to encourage pupils to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information. It also emphasises the importance of listening to, discussing, and reading for themselves a wide range of stories, poems, plays and non-fiction books.The Autumn Statement 2022 announced that funding for mainstream schools and high needs is £3.5 billion higher in the 2023/24 financial year, compared to the 2022/23 financial year. That is on top of the £4 billion, year-on-year increase provided in the 2022/23 financial year. This is an increase of £7.5 billion, or over 15%, in just two years. It is for headteachers to decide how best to manage their budgets, including funding resources such as library provision and reading books.

Secondary Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of secondary schools have a two-year key stage 3.

Nick Gibb: Maintained schools in England are legally required to follow the National Curriculum as a piece of statutory guidance. Within a broad statutory framework, set out in subject specific programmes of study, schools have considerable flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils. Academies and free schools have greater freedom and autonomy in how they operate areas such as the curriculum, but they are expected to teach a curriculum that is comparable in breadth and ambition to the National Curriculum. Many choose to teach the full National Curriculum to achieve this.While schools have the flexibilities described above, it is important that if a shortened Key Stage 3 is implemented, pupils are nonetheless taught a broad and balanced curriculum.The Department does not collect data on how schools organise the content and delivery of the curriculum, and therefore does not hold data on what proportion of schools deliver Key Stage 3 over two years.Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework has a strong emphasis on ensuring schools provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all their pupils. Ofsted’s Schools Inspection Handbook notes that if a school has shortened Key Stage 3, Ofsted inspectors will look for evidence that the school has made provision to ensure that pupils still have the opportunity to study a range of subjects, commensurate with the National Curriculum, in Years 7 to 9. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-eif/school-inspection-handbook.

Pupil Numbers: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in number of pupils at schools in London since the pandemic.

Nick Gibb: The COVID-19 pandemic increased absence rates because of higher levels of illness and broken habits of attendance. Attendance rates in London have improved but remain lower than pre-pandemic levels. This Government is committed to improving attendance given the importance of being in school for children’s chances in life, including their academic attainment, safety, and wellbeing.The Department is implementing a comprehensive, support first attendance strategy, based on the message that attendance is everyone’s responsibility.At the core of the plan are the clearer expectations set out in ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance. Schools are now expected to publish an attendance policy, appoint an attendance champion, and use data to identify and then support pupils at risk of becoming persistently absent.The Department has also established a timelier flow of pupil level attendance data for schools trusts and Local Authorities. 82% of all state funded schools have signed up to this voluntary daily data collection. This supports schools, trusts, Local Authorities and the Department to work together to determine pupils who need support to attend.This is in addition to the £5 billion that has been made available for education recovery, helping pupils to recover from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding includes up to £1.5 billion on tutoring and nearly £2 billion of direct funding to schools so they can deliver evidence based interventions based on pupil needs.

History: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking through the national curriculum to ensure that adequate time is provided for teaching British history at key stage 3.

Nick Gibb: The National Curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the Department expects schools to cover in each subject. The curriculum does not set out how subjects, or topics within the subjects, should be taught. The Department believes teachers should be able to use their own knowledge and expertise to determine how they teach their pupils, and to make choices about what they teach, and what time they provide for teaching specific topics.As part of a broad and balanced education, all pupils should acquire a firm grasp of the history of the country in which they live, and how different events and periods relate to each other. That is why the history curriculum, taught in maintained schools for Key Stages 1 to 3, sets out, within a clear chronological framework, the core knowledge that will enable pupils to understand the history of Britain from its first settlers to the development of the institutions that help to define British national life today. The revised history curriculum taught in maintained schools from September 2014 placed a greater emphasis on pupils being taught British history in a clear chronological way rather than as a series of isolated and unrelated events. At Key Stage 3, the vast majority of the statutory themes are focused on British history.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Cameroon: Armed Conflict

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on investigating alleged criminal offences relating to (a) disinformation, (b) computer misuse and (c) supply of information from the UK that may have led to (i) extrajudicial killings and (ii) other human rights abuses in the conflict in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: HMG is aware of incidences of social media use to promote separatist causes in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon. The FCDO has discussed issues relating to the conflict in Cameroon with other government departments including the Home Office.

Nigeria: Security

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the new Nigerian administration on (a) security cooperation in advance of the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership Dialogue 2023 and (b) requests for support on security issues.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The new Nigerian Foreign Minister is yet to be appointed. However, I [Andrew Mitchell] discussed rising insecurity and the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership with then presidential candidate Bola Tinubu, in December 2022. The UK Government looks forward to strengthening this partnership at the next annual dialogue later this year.

China and Iran: Biometrics

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of China’s provision of face-recognition technology to Iran and its impact on human rights in that country.

Leo Docherty: Women in Iran are reporting greater enforcement of Iran's strict hijab and morality laws by automated recognition technology. We continue to track reports of a Chinese company providing Iran with face-recognition technology, which could be used to violate human rights. The UK is committed to holding Iran to account and calling out Iran's human rights violations in a range of multilateral fora. The UK raised Iran at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution on Iran human rights, supported the creation of a UN Fact Finding Mission and helped ensure Iran's removal from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Home Office: Grants

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the International Centre for Asset Recovery Grant.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO funds the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) and judges ICAR to be an effective organisation in supporting developing countries to trace stolen assets. ICAR equips partner countries with the necessary tools, procedures and policies to effectively use their legal and enforcement instruments to recover stolen assets. Since 2017, ICAR has helped the recovery of more than £112 million of stolen assets.ICAR has also delivered 63 training courses to a total of 1,042 individuals.

Iran and Syria: Human Rights

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy of 2022 Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre reports that Iranian-linked forces have aided attacks, deportations and the persecution of individuals in Syria.

David Rutley: The UK has long made clear our apprehension towards Iran's reckless and destabilising activity in Syria. Iran's support to militant and proscribed groups, including Hizbollah, directly counters UK interests. In Syria, Iran has propped up Bashar al-Asad, prolonging the crisis and enabling him and his brutal regime to commit innumerable human rights violations and abuses. The UK is committed to working with the international community to ensure Iran and the regime are held to account for their destabilising activity in Syria and we will continue to support efforts pursuing a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

Middle East: Minority Groups

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help strengthen the rights of indigenous (a) Kurdish, (b) Yazidi and (c) Jewish groups in the Middle East.

David Rutley: Building respect for human rights, including Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) and the rights of ethnic and religious groups, is a crucial element underpinning the UK's foreign policy in the Middle East. We regularly emphasise the importance of human rights through our engagements with Governments and other key partners.We will continue to monitor the situation for ethnic and religious groups in the region, to speak out against human rights violations and abuses, and to press authorities to safeguard the human rights for all their citizens.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Access to Work Programme

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether an Access to Work scheme has been implemented in their Department.

David Rutley: Access to Work is a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which contributes to the disability-related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition in the workplace that are beyond standard reasonable adjustments. It does not replace an employer's duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments. In April 2022, the FCDO assumed responsibility for providing such adjustments for their staff.Since April 2022, FCDO has a designated team which provides Reasonable Adjustments to its disabled UK-based staff in line with the Equality Act 2010. It also provides its disabled staff with a Workplace Adjustment Passport to facilitate the seamless retention of adjustments on a change of line manager, job role or move between business areas. The Department is an accredited 'Disability Confident Leader' under the government's Disability Confident Scheme (https://disabilityconfident.campaign.gov.uk/) which denotes organisations which have a positive commitment towards disabled people.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Disability

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the National Disability Strategy published on 28 July 2021, which of his Department’s commitments in that strategy that have not been paused as a result of legal action have (a) been fully, (b) been partially and (c) not been implemented.

David Rutley: In January 2022, the High Court declared the National Disability Strategy (NDS) was unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office had three policies included in the National Disability Strategy. These included:Commitment 1: Launch the enhanced FCDO Disability Inclusion Strategy and embedding disability rights in the new International Development Strategy in 2021Commitment 2: Make the UK's Official Development Assistance spend - £10 billion in 2021 to 2022 - disability inclusiveCommitment 3: Establish a new FCDO External Disability Board, first meeting to take place by December 2021We have completed the first and third commitments with the publication of the FCDO Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy in February 2022, and the establishment of an External Disability Board. The second commitment is ongoing. As detailed in the Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy, the FCDO takes a twin-track approach, with targeted support through disability-specific interventions in key sectors alongside mainstreaming disability inclusion across FCDO's work. We remain fully committed to supporting disabled people globally through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. To support this, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office will be providing further details of our recent achievements to improve disabled people's lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation due for publication in the summer. Ahead of this, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work will write providing a list of these achievements and will place a copy in the House Library.

Department for Business and Trade

Members: Correspondence

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she plans to respond to the letter of 26 May 2023 from the hon. Member for Glasgow North West on arranging a meeting to discuss redundancy compensation for former employees of Morton’s Rolls.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department aims to respond to correspondence within 15 working days. I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

Trading Standards: Local Government

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many trading standards staff were employed in each local authority in (a) 2023 and (b) 2010.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department for Business and Trade does not hold this information about trading standards, which is a local government service.

Business: Government Assistance

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps his Department has taken to support business activities which (a) improve the climate, (b) reduce poverty and (c) reduce inequality.

Kevin Hollinrake: The government provides extensive support to all types of UK businesses, including those with activities focused on improving the climate and reducing poverty and inequality, through our Business Support Helpline, 38 Growth Hubs, Start Up Loans programme and Recovery Loan Scheme.The Department for Business and Trade has dedicated teams in the UK and overseas that support clean growth technologies, such as renewable energy, to secure investment, grow in the UK and find export opportunities. We undertake a range of promotional activities working with businesses across the supply chain on an ongoing basis, including investment project support, targeted export campaigns and a network of UK and overseas based trade advisors to provide advice and support. Internationally, the UK is committed to growing free and fair trade with developing countries, boosting economies, reducing poverty and supporting jobs in those countries as well as in ours. We achieve this by improving UK market access for businesses in developing countries through our Economic Partnership Agreements and the new Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which will come into force on 19 June. UK trade preferences reduce import costs for businesses by over £750m per year.

Small Businesses

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many small businesses opened in the last (a) 3, (b) 6, (c) 12 and (d) 24 months.

Kevin Hollinrake: The latest available data shows that at the end of March 2023 there were:- 79,000 business births in the last three months;- 149,000 business births in the last six months;- 307,000 business births in the last 12 months; and- 661,000 business births in the last 24 months. (ONS, Business demography, Quarterly experimental statistics, UK, Q1 2023)

Small Businesses: Insolvency

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many small businesses went bankrupt in the last (a) 3, (b) 6, (c) 12 and (d) 24 months.

Kevin Hollinrake: Information on company insolvencies is sourced from Companies House. As Companies House does not hold information on the size of companies or all types of businesses, we cannot provide specific numbers of small business failures.The total number of company insolvencies in the United Kingdom in the periods requested up to 31 May 2023 was: 3 Months7,0606 Months12,86312 Months24,67024 Months44,498 The number of trader (self-employed) bankruptcies in England & Wales up to 31 March 2023 (the latest date for which data is held) was: 3 Months3956 Months69412 Months1,29124 Months2,599

Small Business Commissioner

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving investigatory powers to the Small Business Commissioner.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government is considering the impact and role of the Small Business Commissioner as part of the Payment and Cash Flow Review. The conclusions of the review will be published in due course.

Department for Business and Trade: Taiwan

Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of the Government of Taiwan in each of the last five years.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan but a strong, unofficial relationship, based on deep and growing ties in a wide range of areas, underpinned by shared democratic values.The Department for Business and Trade has had discussions with representatives of the Taiwan administration in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: Poverty

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she is taking steps to prevent people falling into poverty as a result of increases in the state pension age.

Laura Trott: This government believes that the most effective and sustainable way to tackle poverty is by supporting people to move into and to progress in work wherever possible, through measures such as the Mid-Life MOT or upskilling programmes such as the ‘Returnerships’ bootcamps. Additionally, we remain committed to the principle of giving 10 years of notice before there are any changes to the state pension age and a variety of factors will be considered as part of the next review. The next review will be supported by the latest evidence, including life expectancy projections, updated with 2021 Census data, and the economic position and take place within 2 years of the next Parliament.

Children: Maintenance

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of by how much the child maintenance upper weekly limit of £3,000 gross income set in 2012 under the Child Support Act 1991 would need to be increased to take account of inflation since that date; and if he will make it his policy to increase to that limit.

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he will make it his policy to increase automatically the flat rate of child maintenance payments in line with the consumer prices index.

Mims Davies: The Government’s response to the Independent Review of CMS’s handling of domestic abuse cases announced our intentions to look again at the child maintenance calculation to ensure it is fit for purpose and fair for both parents in light of societal changes since it was last looked at. Any changes will always be made according to the best interests of children.

Housing Benefit

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of housing benefit in the context of trends in the level of average rents.

Mims Davies: Housing Benefit supports tenants in both the private rented sector (PRS) and social rented sector (SRS). For Housing Benefit claimants in the PRS, the majority are subject to their Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate. The LHA policy is kept under regular review and in 2020 we spent almost £1 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile. The significant investment at that time has been maintained ensuring that everyone who benefited continues to do so however, LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas. Claimants in receipt of the housing benefit living in the social rented sector have their eligible rent paid in full, unless it is reduced because of their income or savings, contributions from non-dependants, or limited by the benefit cap or the removal of the spare room subsidy. We recognise that rents are increasing. However, the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions have been necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively. For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP funding to local authorities

Poverty: Children

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of increases in child poverty levels in Preston constituency.

Mims Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 June 2023 to question number 188202

Children: Maintenance

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications were (a) made and (b) granted to parents with care for a top-up maintenance order under the Children Act 1989 Schedule 1 as amended in the last year for which data is available.

Mims Davies: The Child Maintenance Service does not hold the information requested. This is because there is no legal requirement to capture the number of ‘top-up’ applications submitted and or granted to a paying parent in calculating child maintenance. It may be helpful to explain the maximum weekly gross income the Child Maintenance Service can take into account when calculating maintenance is £3000. A receiving parent can make a ‘top-up’ application directly to His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals service in respect of income above £3000. However, the Child Maintenance Service cannot take this into account in the main calculation.

Cold Weather Payments

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness and targeting of Cold Weather Payments.

Laura Trott: Cold Weather Payments are targeted at those most vulnerable to the cold including, older people in receipt of Pension Credit, disabled adults and children, and families with children under five who receive an income-related benefit. The Met Office review the Cold Weather Payment scheme each year to assess whether the linkages between postcode areas and weather stations remain the best available. The Department continues to monitor Cold Weather Payment policies and procedures to review the scheme's effectiveness.

Department for Work and Pensions: Access to Work Programme

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether an Access to Work scheme has been implemented in their Department.

Tom Pursglove: Access to Work is a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant, which contributes to the disability-related extra costs of working faced by disabled people, and those with a health condition in the workplace that are beyond standard reasonable adjustments. It does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments. In 2006, the DWP took over responsibility for providing adjustments that would previously have been funded through Access to Work, for civil servants working in their department. This removed the need for DWP staff to apply for Access to Work. In April 2022, all Government departments followed suit and assumed responsibility for providing such adjustments for their staff.

Pension Credit: Applications

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the longest period between receipt and approval of an application for Pension Credit was in each region of the UK in the last 12 months.

Laura Trott: This information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work & Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.

State Retirement Pensions: Age

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increasing the state pension age on the financial situation of people approaching retirement age.

Laura Trott: The latest assessment of the impact of increasing State Pension age can be found in the 2023 State Pension age review published in March 2023.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-age-review-2023-government-report

Universal Credit: Self-employed

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185575 Universal Credit: Self-employed, how many and what proportion of (a) households with a self-employed Universal Credit claimant and (b) people living in households with a self-employed Universal Credit claimant were subject to the Minimum Income Floor from March 2022 to February 2023 in Brighton and Hove in the same period; what assessment he has made of the impact of the Minimum Income Floor on the ability of self-employed people whose earnings fall below that level to afford essential costs of living; if he will make it his policy to remove the Minimum Income Floor; and if he will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: No assessment of this issue, as raised, has been made. There is no intention to reconsider this policy to remove the Minimum Income Floor. The Minimum Income Floor plays an important role in encouraging self-employed claimants to increase their earnings to a sustainable level through developing their self-employment, or to consider other ways to achieve financial self-sufficiency such as through paid employment. The table below shows the number and proportion of (a) households with a self-employed Universal Credit claimant and (b) people living in households with a self-employed Universal Credit claimant subject to the Minimum Income Floor in Brighton and Hove from March 2022 to February 2023.  Households with one or more self-employed claimantsIndividuals in households with one or more self-employed claimants Number subject to the MIFProportion subject to the MIFNumber subject to the MIFProportion subject to the MIFMar-221705%2506%Apr-222106%3007%May-222207%3208%Jun-222207%3208%Jul-222407%3408%Aug-222507%3508%Sep-222608%3608%Oct-222909%41010%Nov-2233010%46011%Dec-2235010%49012%Jan-2340012%57013%Feb-2345014%64015% Notes:1. Numbers of households and individuals are rounded to the nearest 10.2. Households with a UC award of zero but whose claims have not yet closed are not included.3. Claimants are counted as subject to the Minimum Income Floor if they are gainfully self-employed, not in a start-up period, and do not have temporary easement under which the MIF is not applied.4. During the period shown there has been a large increase in numbers and proportions subject to the Minimum Income Floor as 12 month start-up periods come to an end for the large volume of claimants assessed in the period following the re-introduction of the MIF in August 2021.

Social Security Benefits: Children

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to end the two-child limit for benefit payments.

Guy Opperman: No, there are no plans to end this policy.

Universal Credit: Rents

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that legacy benefit claimants (a) are aware of and (b) have access to managed payments to landlord in the managed migration to Universal Credit.

Guy Opperman: We are not currently moving claimants who have Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit. The Department has published guidance online to ensure legacy benefit claimants are aware of and have access to managed payments to landlords. This information is in the public domain and can be found in the following link: Understanding Universal Credit - Advances and help with budgeting.

Universal Credit: Pension Credit

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of excluding any legacy benefit claimant due to qualify for Pension Credit before April 2025 from having to migrate to Universal Credit; and if he will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: We are currently excluding anyone within 6 months of State Pension Age from the Managed Migration process to reduce the number of benefit changes households need to make within a short period of time.

Universal Credit

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to amend Universal Credit regulations to allow claimants of legacy benefits to be eligible for transitional protection if their initial claim was rejected due to a lack of information but was then approved in a subsequent claim.

Guy Opperman: We have no plans to amend the regulations. The regulations allow transitional protection to be considered in all instances where there is a qualifying Universal Credit (UC) claim made within the given deadline, for which all the necessary information is provided. Guidance has been issued to decision makers making this clear. We also issue reminders to claimants during this period about the need to make a UC claim to continue receiving benefit.

Treasury

Income Tax: Exemptions

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses utilised the exemption provisions in Section 317 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 in the latest period for which information is available.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of home or remote working employees that are eligible for the subsidised meal schemes outlined in Section 317 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the exemption provisions of Section 317 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 to cover local restaurants and businesses in close proximity to company premises.

Victoria Atkins: Information on the number of eligible individuals or businesses who use the exemption provisions under Section 317 is not collected as the provision of these benefits are not subject to income tax and National Insurance contributions. However, the Government is committed to supporting the hospitality sector through other means, including business rates support worth £13.6 billion over the next five years.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, (a) for which individuals and (b) for how many nights accommodation was purchased from (i) Marriott Hotels on (1) 17 April 2022 and (2) 10 October 2022, (ii) Capital Hotel Plc on 7 June 2022, and (iii) Transcorp Hotels Plc on 29 September 2022; and what were the (A) locations of each hotel and (B) purpose of each stay.

Gareth Davies: The accommodation referenced in the question related to stays for meetings with the IMF and providing technical assistance to the government of Nigeria.

Taxation: British National (Overseas)

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that the British National (Overseas) holders residing in the UK are aware of their right to have their tax information data withheld from being sent to Hong Kong authorities.

Victoria Atkins: Where individuals are only tax resident in the UK, their financial account information is not shared with any foreign authority. Under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) information on UK financial accounts held by tax residents of Hong Kong is shared with the tax authority of Hong Kong for taxation purposes. Any financial institution or account holder can apply to HMRC to have CRS information redacted if they consider that their human rights are at risk. The Government has reminded financial institutions about the process and information for individual account holders available on GOV.UK has recently been updated and made more prominent.

Revenue and Customs: Complaints

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints HM Revenue and Customs received in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those were upheld.

Victoria Atkins: Monthly performance data is published on GOV.UK website.Volumes of complaints received, and outcomes can be viewed in the supporting data tables found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports HMRC monthly performance reports - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Government procurement card HMT spend greater than £500: October 2022, published 31 May 2023, for (a) which individuals and (b) how many nights, was accommodation purchased at the Tropical Mansion Suites on 29 October 2022; and what was the purpose of that stay.

Gareth Davies: Accommodation was purchased for delivering technical assistance to the government of Montserrat, supporting them in preparation for their assessment conducted by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, what was the (a) nature and (b) purpose of the services purchased from (i) Chauffeur Services North East Ltd on 18 May 2022 and (ii) RD Chauffeur Services on 13 August 2022.

Gareth Davies: The taxi services relate to transportation for HM Treasury and BEIS officials in Teesside and Belfast.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his Department’s publication entitled Government procurement card HMT spend greater than £500: January 2023, published 31 May 2023, for (a) which individuals and (b) how many nights was accommodation purchased at (i) Hotel Taj Samudra on 20 January 2023 and (ii) JW Golf on 23 January 2023; and what was the purpose of those stays.

Gareth Davies: The purpose of these stays was to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meetings for G20 as well as provide diplomacy and engagement with the Sri Lankan government.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Government procurement card HMT spend greater than £500: February 2023, published 31 May 2023, what was the (a) nature and (b) purpose of the furniture and fittings purchased on 3-6 February 2023 from Banner UK.

Gareth Davies: This expenditure was for the installation of lockers for staff.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Government procurement card HMT spend greater than £500: November 2022, published 31 May 2023, for (a) which individuals and (b) how many nights was accommodation purchased at Paris Attitude Apartments on 18 November 2022; and what was the purpose of that stay.

Gareth Davies: Accommodation was secured for a member of HM Treasury staff on long-term secondment to the OECD in Paris.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s publication of Government procurement card HMT spend greater than £500: January 2023, published 31 May 2023, what was the (a) nature and (b) purpose of the training for which Carter Corson Partnership Ltd. was paid (i) £3,132 on 26 October 2022 and (ii) £2,152 on 1 February 2023; and which teams received that training.

Gareth Davies: The nature and purpose of these training sessions was the internal audit training provided by the Government Internal Audit Agency department.

Hospitality Industry: VAT

Naz Shah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was received in VAT receipts from the hospitality sector in each quarter since the temporary reduced VAT rate which applied to tourism and hospitality ended on 31 March 2022.

Victoria Atkins: The ‘hospitality’ sector broadly equates to the Sector Industrial Classification of ‘Accommodation and Food Service Activities’ which is divided between two subsectors:AccommodationFood and beverage service activities A sector and sub-sector breakdown of VAT declarations data is published in HMRC’s on the GOV.UK website here Value Added Tax (VAT) annual statistics, which reflects the net liabilities from VAT returns. Currently, the available data covers the period up to and including the financial year 2021-2022. The VAT annual statistics are usually published in the Winter and covers the period up to the last complete financial year. A sector breakdown of VAT data for the 2022-2023 financial year will be included in the next publication. In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, releases of these statistics are pre-announced on GOV.UK.

Members: Correspondence

Hilary Benn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when HM Revenue and Customs plans to reply to the emails from the Rt Hon Member for Leeds Central of 12 April and 9 May about his constituent Mr MW and his pension contributions.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC aims to provide a full response to the honourable member within the next 10 working days. They will liaise directly with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Customer.

Wealth: Taxation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact on tax receipts of the introduction of an annual wealth tax.

Victoria Atkins: The UK system is designed to ensure among other things that the richest in our society pay their fair share on their wealth and assets, with the tax system taxing wealth across many different economic activities, including acquisition, holding, transfer and disposal of assets and income derived from assets. These tax levers generate substantial revenue, including Inheritance Tax revenues of £7 billion, Capital Gains Tax revenues of £18.1 billion and property transaction taxes of £17.3 billion in 2022-2023.

Voluntary Contributions

Hilary Benn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to take steps to update taxpayers' personal HMRC pages to reflect the decision to extend the deadline to 2025 for voluntary pension contributions in the period between 2006 and 2018.

Victoria Atkins: Individuals can access their National Insurance record through their Personal Tax Account and the ‘Check your National Insurance record’ and ‘Check your State Pension forecast’ services on the GOV.UK webiste. HMRC has updated all of these products with a statement to explain the deadline for making voluntary National Insurance contributions has been extended to 5 April 2025. The payment date for years 2006 to 2018 will be updated to 5 April 2025 before the end of July 2023.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s publication of procurement card spend greater than £500, for (a) which individuals and (b) how many nights was accommodation purchased from Radisson Blu Hotels on (i) 15 May 2022, (ii) 23 June 2022, and (iii) 16 November 2022; and what were the (A) locations of those hotels and (b) the purpose of those stays.

Gareth Davies: This visit was for attendance at OECD led meetings of the Inclusive Framework Steering Group in Paris.

Treasury: EU Law

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department holds searchable IT archives (a) on Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU-sourced regulation and (b) employing the search term out of scope relating to changes to regulatory burdens that could not be reviewed due to its EU origin.

Gareth Davies: I refer the Hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answers given to him by my Hon. Friend for Thirsk and Malton, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business on 22 May, UIN: 183010 and 183009.

Committee of Privileges: Legal Costs

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department approved the cost of legal advice provided to the former Rt hon. Member for Uxbridge for the investigation into his conduct by the Committee of Privileges.

John Glen: I refer the Hon. member to the answer given on 22 March to PQ UIN 168062: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-03-17/168062

Home Office

Refugees: Children

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children were accommodated in Home Office operated hotels in each month since October 2022 by age.

Robert Jenrick: We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.If any child goes missing the MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol is followed. A multi-agency, missing persons meeting is chaired by the local authority to establish the young person's whereabouts and to ensure that they are safe. Similar protocols within police forces have safely reduced the number of missing episodes from placements by 36%.The Home Office continue to work with the police and local authorities to ensure the children in our care are safe.The Police are responsible for locating any missing children. The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.

Home Office: Grants

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Reception Assistance for individuals returning to Zimbabwe Grant.

Robert Jenrick: Reception assistance was provided to Zimbabwean nationals returned and deported to Zimbabwe during this period which also coincided with the Covid pandemic. The scheme enabled practical support, including Covid testing, to be provided on arrival in Zimbabwe to all returnees who required it.

Home Office: Grants

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Afghan Schemes Hotel Wraparound Support Grant.

Robert Jenrick: The provision of wraparound support to those in hotels and temporary accommodation by local authorities is detailed in funding instructions which can be found here. These funding instructions set out the conditions under which the funding is disbursed, the outcomes required and the processes to be followed to claim funds. They also provide more detailed definitions of eligibility.These funding instructions also outline how the provision of support is to be evaluated and monitored. Both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 hotel wraparound support funding instructions make clear that local authorities themselves should manage and administer the quality and level of delivery in relation to the support it provides to Beneficiaries under the Afghan Schemes in hotels and temporary accommodation.As part of this monitoring and evaluation process, the Home Office will shortly be writing to all local authorities who provided bridging accommodation under the Afghan Schemes over the course of the last financial year to ask them to provide a high-level overview of how the funding has been used to support the statement of outcomes, as outlined in the funding instructions. This will be used internally to review the effectiveness of the scheme; it will not be published but will be used as part of a wider assurance and lessons learnt piece.

Windrush Compensation Scheme: Civil Servants

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time civil servants above Grade 7 have worked on the Windrush compensation scheme in each financial quarter since the scheme was established.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office does not hold this data in a reportable format.

Windrush Compensation Scheme

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of the total budget for the Windrush compensation scheme has been allocated.

Robert Jenrick: There is no cap on the amount of compensation the Windrush Compensation Scheme will pay out. The Government is determined to right the wrongs for affected members of the Windrush generation and will ensure that all funding requirements are met.

Windrush Compensation Scheme: Applications

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the average time taken to complete an application for the Windrush compensation scheme in the most recent period for which data is available.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office has no published data to answer this question and the information is not readily available in a reportable format.

Home Office: Grants

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme & Relocation and Assistance Policy Grant.

Robert Jenrick: The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) references in the Government grant statistics 2021-2022 relate to the resettlement tariff provided to local authorities. This grant contributes towards the cost of resettlement and integration for those being resettled and relocated under those schemes.These funding arrangements are kept under regular review, including consideration of the integration outcomes being achieved for refugees using the available funding. We expect to conduct a data collection exercise with local authorities later this year to better understand the early integration outcomes being achieved for the ACRS and ARAP cohorts against a range of indicator of integration, including work, education and English language.

Asylum: Judicial Review

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the cost to the public purse of judicial review cases brought by campaign groups representing asylum seekers in each of the past four years for which data is available.

Robert Jenrick: Information on the cost to the public purse of judicial review cases brought by campaign groups representing asylum seekers in each of the past four years is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Home Office: Grants

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Grip: County Lines Roads Policing Operations Grant.

Chris Philp: This Government is determined to crack down on the county lines gangs who are exploiting our children and have a devastating impact on our communities. This is why, through the 10-year Drug Strategy, we are bolstering our County Lines Programme, investing up to £145m over three years.We are aware that the roads network is used to transport offenders, victims, drugs, cash and weapons. That is why, in FY21/22, we provided dedicated funding for roads policing operations in the top three County Lines exporting police forces, Metropolitan Police Service, Merseyside Police and West Midlands Police, with the aim of enhancing roads policing activity to tackle county lines. The impact of our investment is monitored through the County Lines Task & Finish Group, which oversees delivery of the County Lines Programme. Since launching in 2019, policing activity funded by the Programme has resulted in over 3,500 lines closed, 10,000 arrests, and 5,700 safeguarding referrals. Through the Programme, forces are implementing operational best practice, including lessons learned from the County Lines Roads Policing Operations Grant activity.

Home Office: Grants

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Missing People Support Services Funding Grant.

Miss Sarah Dines: The charity, Missing People, plays a unique safeguarding role with respect to vulnerable missing children and adults, including support for, and promotion of, live police missing persons investigations. This represents a significant cost saving to police forces, enabling them to focus resources on their investigations.In 2020-21, the charity received a Home Office grant of £122,898.00 for their Support Services. This grant was monitored via regular meetings between the charity and Home Office officials, and an end of year grant report. During the period of this grant, Missing People responded to almost 45,000 police referrals. Support offered included: 43,741 TextSafe messages sent to missing children and adult, signposting the charity’s support services1,247 publicity appeals launched2,393 families supported

Crimes of Violence: Offenders

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps police forces are taking to monitor breaches of exclusion zones relating to (a) domestic abuse and (b) other violent crimes.

Miss Sarah Dines: This Government is committed to protecting all victims and tackling domestic abuse and violent crime.To gain protection from domestic abuse, police can apply for a Domestic Violence Protection Order, victims can apply for a Non-Molestation Order and criminal courts can impose a Restraining Order on acquittal or conviction of a criminal offence. In cases of violent crime, police forces can apply to the court for a Criminal Behaviour Order, Gang Injunction, or Knife Crime Prevention Order which can also impose exclusion zones. Additionally, in community sentences, the court can impose electronically monitored exclusion zones. Responding to breaches is an operational matter for the police to decide upon. The introduction of the new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, will help to strengthen the evidence base for pursuing and prosecuting breach of an exclusion zone in cases of domestic abuse. The new order will be piloted from next year in Gwent, Greater Manchester, the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, and Bromley, and the British Transport Police (Domestic abusers face crackdown in raft of new measures - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).For offenders on licence, breach of exclusion zones could result in recall by probation and arrest and return to custody by the police. Later this year, the Ministry of Justice will begin a project to test the effectiveness of electronic monitoring of additional licence conditions, including exclusion zones, for domestic abuse perpetrators released on licence.

Hate Crime: LGBT+ People

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of hate crime laws for protecting LGBTQ+ people from hate crime; and if she will make a statement.

Miss Sarah Dines: The Government takes all forms of hate crime seriously, and we have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes which target sexual orientation, transgender identity, disability, race and religion. The Government expects the perpetrators of these abhorrent offences to be brought to justice. We are aware of stakeholder concerns relating to the effectiveness of existing legislation. That is why the Government asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of hate crime legislation in 2018. The Law Commission published its final report in December 2021, and we are grateful for the detailed consideration it has given to its review of hate crime laws. The Government will respond in full shortly.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Deportation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison places were occupied by prisoners born overseas since 2021; and what steps his Department is taking to deport these people to their country of origin once their sentence has concluded.

Damian Hinds: HMPPS does not routinely collect data on a prisoner’s country of birth. However, data is collected on nationality. Information on the number of Foreign National Offenders in prisons in England and Wales is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly.

Abortion: Crime

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy is on decriminalising abortion after 24 weeks.

Edward Argar: The Government maintains a neutral stance in terms of changing the criminal law relating to abortion in England and Wales.Any change to the law in this area would be a matter of conscience for individual Parliamentarians rather than for the Government.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Carbon Capture and Storage: Finance

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding his Department allocated to the Carbon Capture Storage and Utilisation Infrastructure Fund in each year since 2020; and how much funding was allocated to each project through that fund.

Graham Stuart: The 2021 Spending Review confirmed the following allocation for the Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) Infrastructure Fund (£ bn current prices).FY20/21FY21/22FY22/23FY23/24FY24/250.00.00.00.30.4The £1 billion CIF allocation at SR21 is spread over a longer period than as announced at Spending Review 2020 reflecting information received from project developers in the CCUS clusters. The Government has committed up to £40m of the CIF to support early-stage design work in industrial clusters via the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC) Fund. The majority of CIF will be allocated through the ongoing Cluster Sequencing process. The Hynet and East Coast Clusters have been confirmed as track 1 clusters for the mid-2020s and will be taken forward into Track-1 negotiations for support through the relevant business models, including CIF.

Hydrogen and Wind Power: Scotland

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of Scotland's Statutory Independent Undertakings converting curtailed wind energy to hydrogen.

Graham Stuart: The Government views hydrogen as an important component of the future energy system to provide low carbon flexibility as it integrates more intermittent renewables. Excess renewable electricity can be used to produce hydrogen. This could have a range of potential uses. Hydrogen could generate power when there is less wind or sun, for transport and industry or potentially heating buildings.Further evidence is required on whether gas networks can be converted to use 100% hydrogen. This includes independent gas networks operated as Statutory Independent Undertakings. The Government is working with industry and regulators to build the necessary evidence base.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an announcement on the allocation of Track 2 status for carbon capture utilisation and storage projects.

Graham Stuart: The Government has launched Track-2 of the Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) cluster sequencing process which aims to establish two CCUS clusters, contributing to the ambition to capture 20-30 mega-tonnes of CO2 per year across the economy by 2030. The expression of interest application window for Track-2 has now closed. The Government will provide an update on next steps in the summer.

Energy Bills Rebate: Applications

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reopening applications to the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding closed to new applications on 31 May, and the department does not plan to re-open the scheme. There was a limited extension until 16 June, allowing corporate appointees with business bank accounts to apply on behalf of the eligible households they represent. The government believes that the 3-month time window provided sufficient time for eligible households to apply for their £400 support.

Electricity: Prices

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of regulatory arrangements for the price of wholesale electricity.

Graham Stuart: As part of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA), the Government is assessing the current set of regulatory arrangements for the price of wholesale electricity (among other aspects of the market). The Government will publish the conclusions of this assessment in the second consultation in the Autumn.

Solar Power

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to assess unused potential for solar energy on (a) domestic and (b) commercial roof space; if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report by CPRE The Countryside Charity entitled, Shout from the rooftops: delivering a common sense solar revolution, published in May 2023; what steps he is taking to increase the amount of roof space used for creating solar energy; and if he will make a statement.

Graham Stuart: The Government is aiming for 70 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2035, which will require a significant increase in both ground-mount and rooftop solar. Extensive deployment of rooftop solar on domestic, industrial, and commercial property to make effective use of available surfaces is a priority. Current support includes the Smart Export Guarantee and various fiscal incentives, including business rate exemptions and tax allowances. The Government is consulting on simplifying planning for installing solar in commercial settings and on carports. The new Government/Industry Solar Taskforce will focus on further measures to unlock the potential of rooftop solar.

Carbon Capture and Storage: Finance

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what criteria his Department used to allocate expenditure to projects through the Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Infrastructure Fund.

Graham Stuart: The CIF will primarily be allocated through the Cluster Sequencing process to contribute to the capital costs of the T&S network and ICC projects. To maximise participation, diversity and resilience in the Cluster Sequencing process, the Government has also committed up to £40m of the CIF to support early-stage design work in industrial clusters via the existing Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC) Fund. The eligibility and assessment criteria for Phase 1 and 2 of the Cluster Sequencing Process are published within the Phase 1 and Phase 2 guidance. Clusters and projects were assessed against several criteria including deliverability, emissions reduction potential, economic benefits, cost considerations, and learning and innovation.

Carbon Capture and Storage: Scotland

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent (a) representations he has received from and (b) discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on the potential role of depleted oil and gas fields with secure geological storage for the delivery of carbon capture utilisation and storage.

Graham Stuart: The Government is engaging with the Scottish Government on the development and implementation of all aspects of CCUS. Typically, CO2 will be stored in geological formations offshore, within depleted oil or gas fields or saline aquifers. The UK’s transport and storage facilities have the potential to become strategic national assets. With an estimated 78 billion tonnes of theoretical CO₂ storage capacity in the UK Continental Shelf.

Industrial Energy Transformation Fund

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding was allocated from the Energy Transformation Fund (a) in total and (b) to projects in Scotland in each year of its operation.

Graham Stuart: The £289m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) supports industrial sites located in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. To date, the Government has allocated funding across five competitive application windows. Allocations by financial year are as follows: 2020-2021, £22m2021-2022, £26.2m2022-2023, £119.6mThese figures do not include funding for projects that have chosen to withdraw from the programme. Further IETF allocations will be made once funding decisions for the final window of Phase 2 have concluded in Summer this year. Scottish sites are supported by the Scottish IETF. The £34m SIETF budget is administered by the Scottish Government, and we do not hold the data on annual allocations.

Natural Gas: Housing

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the number of households which use the natural gas network in (a) the UK, (b) Great Britain, (c) Scotland, (d) England, (e) Wales and (f) Northern Ireland.

Graham Stuart: Data on the number of domestic gas meters in Great Britain, Scotland, England and Wales are published annually in subnational gas consumption statistics. Gas meters are classified as domestic or non-domestic based on a consumption threshold which means that some smaller commercial properties will be classified as domestic. Data on the number of domestic gas meters in Northern Ireland are published annually in subnational gas consumption statistics in Northern Ireland. Gas meters are classified as domestic or non-domestic based on a profile marker which indicates if the meter relates to a domestic or non-domestic consumer.

Solar Power: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent steps his Department has taken to support research into floating solar panels.

Graham Stuart: The Department is not currently supporting research into floating solar panels.

Energy Supply: Northern Ireland

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in what time frame energy consumers in Northern Ireland can expect to receive replacements for stolen vouchers.

Amanda Solloway: The Department is aware of a small number of cases in which customers have reported that they have not received their voucher and yet it has already been redeemed. Customers in this position will need to report it to PSNI as it is potentially a case of fraud or theft.  A crime number will be issued and PSNI is investigating all cases reported to them. The crime number should then be passed on to the customer’s electricity supplier and they will reissue payment. Payments can be made to eligible customers until 30 June 2023.

Energy: Overpayments

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the (a) total and (b) average credit balance that has been accrued to energy companies as a result of overpayment via direct debit by domestic customers in the period since 1 September 2022.

Amanda Solloway: The Government does not hold this information.Ofgem have rules designed to limit the accrual of excessive customer credit, and conducted a Market Compliance Review of these rules in summer 2022. Following their review, Ofgem report that almost a million customers had their direct debits assessed, and £117,580 of adjustments and repayments have been made by suppliers as of 2 February 2023. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/direct-debit-market-compliance-review-progress-update

Energy: Companies

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to regulate energy companies to (a) require them to automatically refund surplus credit to consumers who have used less than estimated at the end of the contract year, (b) limit the amount of consumer credit they hold and (c) protect the credits held by consumers in the event a supplier fails; and if he will make a statement.

Amanda Solloway: Ofgem rules state that direct debits must be as accurate as possible and suppliers have a general obligation to not be “overly reliant” on customer credit. Ofgem’s Market Compliance Review (MCR) assessed how suppliers set and review customer direct debit levels. The MCR did not find evidence that direct debits were being widely inflated. Customers can request a refund on their credit balance at any time and the credit must be refunded promptly. All domestic customers had their credit balances protected following the supplier failures of Winter 2021/22 and credit balances will remain protected in the event of further insolvencies.

Energy: Companies

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has held discussions with executives from (a) British Gas, (b) EDF Energy, (c) E.ON, (d) RWE npower, (e) Scottish Power and (f) SSE since 7 February 2023.

Graham Stuart: Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-energy-security-and-net-zero. Data covering the 7 February 2023 until 31 March 2023 will be published shortly. In line with Cabinet Office Guidance, organisations are listed instead of individuals.

Women and Equalities

Billing

Damien Moore: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of requiring all (a) utility, (b) banks and (c) other companies to provide paper bills in addition to electronic bills to people aged over 70.

Stuart Andrew: We fully recognise that some older people do not find it easy to access bills and statements electronically. Utility companies, banks and other service providers should, and in many cases do, recognise the varying communication needs of their customers but there is always scope for them to do more.The Equality Act 2010 provides strong protection for older people, from discrimination because of age and disability. This includes protection from indirect discrimination, which can happen where, for example, a service provider treats some of its younger customers the same but in doing so disadvantages its older customers. While every case is different and subject to an “objective justification” test, using purely electronic communication could amount to indirect discrimination because of age and/ or disability and companies need to be aware of that.A person who feels that they have experienced age discrimination may contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), the government helpline established to provide free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns. The EASS can be contacted via their website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, by telephone on 0808 8000082 or text phone on 0808 8000084. The EASS has the ability to intervene on an individual’s behalf with a service provider to help resolve an issue. The EASS can also advise people who wish to take their complaint further on their options.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Fairtrade Initiative

Navendu Mishra: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June to Question 186759 on House of Commons: Fairtrade Initiative, if the Commission will make it its policy to record details of all the Fairtrade branded products purchased by Catering Services.

Sir Charles Walker: Procurement standards for catering contracts include minimum ethical criteria and the Administration does not plan to keep a record of the scheme relating to each product due to the volume and range of goods purchased.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: EU Law

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department holds searchable IT archives (a) of Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU-sourced regulation and (b) employing the search term out of scope relating to changes to regulatory burdens that could not be reviewed due to its EU origin.

Jeremy Quin: The Cabinet Office does not hold searchable IT archives and searchable documentation relating to Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU sourced regulation. Regulatory Impact Assessments are the responsibility of the Better Regulation Executive in the Department for Business and Trade.I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given to him by my Hon. Friend for Thirsk and Malton, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business on 22 May, UIN: 183010 and 183009.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Innovate UK

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps Innovate UK has taken to ensure its grants are accessible to under-represented groups.

George Freeman: In 2023, Innovate UK is building on the legacy and success of its existing targeted programmes: Women in Innovation and Young Innovators. They are launching a new and ambitious programme called Diverse Innovators: Begin and Build. This new Innovate UK core funding competition is designed to deliver increased impact by widening the doors to invite a wider range of under-represented innovators with great ideas to engage with Innovate UK as they start and build their businesses.

UK Research And Innovation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding was allocated to Havering Council as part of the UK Research and Innovation Innovate Scheme in 2021-22.

George Freeman: Havering London Borough Council did not receive direct funding from Innovate UK in 2021-22. I refer the hon. Member to my response to his question 186044 on 30 May 2023 regarding wider funding for the Havering area

Innovate UK

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent steps Innovate UK has taken to encourage (a) businesses and (b) universities to collaborate with each other.

George Freeman: Innovate UK (IUK) encourages and supports collaboration between businesses and universities. IUK funds the Catapults to support business innovation and drive collaboration in supply chains throughout the economy. Between 2013 and 2022, Catapults established over 5,000 academic and 18,000 industry collaborations. IUK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) enables early career researchers to work with business on their research priorities and supports 885 projects (as of FY22/23), partnering with 105 universities, colleges, and research organisations. 78% of KTP projects are with SMEs. IUK’s Knowledge Transfer Networks also bring together experts from industry, academia and finance to support businesses to access cutting-edge research.

Life Sciences: East Midlands

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential financial effect of the £650 million Life Sci for Growth package on (a) the East Midlands, (b) Leicestershire, (c) Loughborough constituency and (d) the Life Sciences Opportunity Zone at Charnwood Campus.

George Freeman: The call for proposals for the £38m biomanufacturing fund and £250m LIFTS initiative are open UK-wide. Additionally, funding for skills and regulations will benefit companies across the UK and £121 million for clinical trials will support the delivery of clinical trials across England. With 66% of the sector employed outside London and South-East, these UK wide initiatives will benefit all regions. Nottingham has been awarded at least £935k for the Mental Health Mission, including activities at the Midlands Translational Research Centre of Excellence demonstrator site and under the Children and Young People’s Mental Health workstream.

Science: Africa

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has any targets on (a) the number and (b) the economic value of research collaborations with Africa.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) societal and (b) economic impact of scientific research collaborations between the UK and Africa.

George Freeman: While we do not set targets or estimate benefits, all UK development activity is governed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) rules: that activity is targeted at the economic development and welfare of developing countries. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) audit the activity. The UK-Africa scientific partnership makes vital contributions to the UK’s development and diplomatic objectives in Africa. Scientific collaborations are helping to overcome many of the most significant global challenges, from public health emergencies to climate change, to energy, education and more.

Counter Disinformation Unit: Freedom of Expression

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether online content flagged for removal by the Counter Disinformation Unit can include lawful expression.

Paul Scully: Preserving freedom of expression is an extremely important principle underpinning the Counter Disinformation Unit’s (CDU) work. The CDU does not monitor political debate and the CDU does not refer any content from journalists, politicians or political parties to social media platforms.The CDU works closely with the major social media platforms to understand their terms of service and to encourage them to promote authoritative sources of information.Where the unit encounters content which poses a demonstrable risk to public health, safety or national security and is assessed to breach the platform’s terms of service, content may be referred to the platform concerned for their consideration.No action is mandated by the Government and it is up to the platform to independently decide whether or not to take any action in line with their terms of service.A fact sheet providing further information on the work of the CDU can be found here.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Vodafone Group

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the merger between Three and Vodafone on her Department's contracts with Vodafone.

Mr Alister Jack: As an open economy, this Government welcomes and encourages investment where it supports the Prime Minister’s goal of boosting UK growth and jobs, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. The Government has robust powers under the National Security & Investment Act, which it introduced, to block or impose remedies on transactions that pose a national security risk.As you will appreciate, we cannot comment on specific acquisitions nor the applicability of the National Security and Investment regime.It is the responsibility of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market, with input from sectoral regulators.The Investment Security Unit works closely with the Competition and Markets Authority on cases that are being considered for both national security and competition reasons. A memorandum of understanding has been agreed between the Investment Security Unit and the CMA to assist joint working. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/operation-of-the-national-security-and-investment-act-2021-memorandum-of-understanding/mou-between-beis-and-the-cma-on-the-operation-of-the-national-security-and-investment-act-2021.

Northern Ireland Office

Foreign Investment in UK: Northern Ireland

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to promote inward investment into Northern Ireland.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to promote foreign direct investment into Northern Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: The Northern Ireland economy has the ingredients required for economic success: exceptional talent, creativity, and innovation. In partnership with the Department for Business and Trade, we are hosting the Northern Ireland Investment Summit on the 12 and 13 September in Belfast. This will be the perfect opportunity for Northern Ireland to demonstrate its potential to the world as part of the UK Government’s programme to mark the 25th anniversary year of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

Veterinary Services: Northern Ireland

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure long-term access to veterinary medicine supplies in Northern Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: We secured a three-year extension to the grace period for veterinary medicines at the end of 2022. This ensures that Northern Ireland’s supply of veterinary medicines is protected for the foreseeable future and we have the time to find a long-term, sustainable solution.To support our work towards a long-term solution, we will continue to work with the EU and industry throughout the grace period.

Ministry of Defence

Devonport Dockyard

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish details of the contract for HMNB Devonport - 3 Basin Rehabilitation of Vessel Entry Point.

James Cartlidge: The contract for HMNB Devonport 3 Basin Rehabilitation of Vessel Entry Point, Contract Number 707848450, is published on the Governments Contract Finder, on Gov.uk.

Devonport Dockyard

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the award of a contract for HMNB Devonport - 3 Basin Rehabilitation of Vessel Entry Point, published on 19 May, will affect any of the timelines for recycling the nuclear submarines stored in that basin.

James Cartlidge: The scope and timing of contract work on the 3 Basin vessel entry point in His Majesty's Naval Base Devonport will be specifically designed to ensure the storage of decommissioned submarines remains safe and secure. This will be the case for the duration of their programme of disposal and recycling work and will not affect future recycling timelines of those submarines already stored in the Basin.

Trident Submarines: Decommissioning

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where he plans to store the first Vanguard-class submarine awaiting decommissioning; and in what timescale.

James Cartlidge: Plans for the storage of the Vanguard Class submarines when they begin to leave service from the early 2030s are currently under review.

Multi-role Ocean Surveillance Ships: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2023 to Question 188464 on Multi-role Ocean Surveillance Ships: Procurement, when he plans for the second vessel providing future Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance to enter service.

James Cartlidge: The second Multi-role Ocean Surveillance vessel is still in concept phase. A programme and procurement strategy will be established once this has been completed.

Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons: Costs

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise was in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020, (d) 2021 and (e) 2022.

James Cartlidge: The Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) comprises a range of interdependent programmes to support, maintain and renew the United Kingdom’s independent nuclear deterrent as well as the decommissioning and disposal activities for defence nuclear capabilities when they leave service. These activities are spread across many budgetary areas and have not previously been reported as total DNE. From financial year 2023-04 we will report the majority of DNE nuclear spend as a separate line in the department’s Supply Estimates.

Army

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many infantry battalions the Army has; and how many of them have (a) protected and (b) unprotected armour.

James Heappey: The British Army currently has 30 regular infantry battalions; nine with either armoured or protected mobility vehicles and 21 without. These 21 units sit within Light or Air Manoeuvre Brigades however, also includes Ranger, Security Force Assistance and Experimentation units.

Department for Transport

Network Rail: Derelict Land

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with Network Rail on releasing unused brownfield sites for housing.

Huw Merriman: Network Rail continuously works with the Department and other partners, such as local authorities and London Continental Railways, to identify opportunities for the redevelopment of land, where this does not adversely affect the operational railway.

Eurostar: Amsterdam

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held discussions with representatives of Eurostar on the decision to end direct services between London and Amsterdam.

Huw Merriman: I was very concerned to see the reports regarding potential temporary disruption to Eurostar’s operations at Amsterdam Centraal from June 2024 due to planned renovation works at the station. The Government has engaged directly with Dutch counterparts and Eurostar. The Dutch Government have now confirmed that they will urgently engage with Eurostar and relevant partners to explore if there are alternative solutions to maintain Eurostar operations throughout the renovation works. I fully support this latest dialogue and my officials will continue to monitor this closely.

Eurostar: Kent

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held discussions with representatives of Eurostar on re commencing services at (a) Ashford and (b) Ebbsfleet International.

Huw Merriman: The Government wants to see the reinstatement of services at Ebbsfleet and Ashford when it is commercially viable for the company to do so. I met with Eurostar earlier this year and raised this matter directly with them. Clearly this is a commercial decision for Eurostar as a non-franchised operator.But my officials have and will continue to engage with Eurostar directly on this matter and press for the reinstatement of services at Kent stations as soon as reasonably possible.

Railways: Darlington and Stockton on Tees

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to commemorate the bicentenary of the Stockton and Darlington railway in 2025.

Huw Merriman: Network Rail is leading “Railway 200” – the railway industry’s exciting plan for a year-long series of coordinated national and international events, activities, and campaigns. The Department for Transport will be working closely with Network Rail and the Great British Railways Transition Team to champion this important initiative across Government.

Shipping: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with international counterparts on the potential merits of a global levy on greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry.

Mr Richard Holden: The Secretary of State is working closely with international counterparts ahead of the upcoming revision of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Strategy this summer. The UK is working at pace to ensure the IMO can develop an effective suite of regulatory and policy solutions to reduce emissions from international shipping. Discussions are ongoing with fellow IMO Member States on the potential merits of a range of technical and economic measures.

Freight: Income

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of potential changes in the revenue generated by the haulage industry due to EU rules on cabotage since the UK left the EU.

Jesse Norman: There has been no formal assessment of the revenue generated. However, based on the most recent statistics published in October 2022, in 2021 UK operators performed cabotage movements as permitted within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement equivalent to 93% of the average amount of movement that took place between 2015 – 2019. The 2021 levels of cabotage movements performed by UK operators may differ from the 2015-2019 average due to reasons other than the changes to EU rules about cabotage.

Buses: Wales

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 187276 on Buses: Carbon Emissions, what discussions Ministers from his Department had with Ministers from the Welsh Government on the rollout of zero emission buses between 1 January 2019 and 11 February 2020.

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 187276 on Buses: Carbon Emissions, what discussions Ministers from his Department had with Ministers from the Scottish Government on the rollout of zero emission buses between 1 January 2019 and 11 February 2020.

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 187276 on Buses: Carbon Emissions, what discussions Ministers from his Department had with Ministers from the Scottish Government on the rollout of zero emission buses between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2019.

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 187277 on Buses: Carbon Emissions, what discussions Ministers from his Department held with their counterparts in the Scottish Government between 12 February and 31 December 2020 on the rollout of zero-emission buses.

Mr Richard Holden: We can only provide this information at disproportionate cost.

Driving Licences: Welsh Language

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of transferring further traffic commissioner functions relating to licence applications to the Traffic Commissioner for Wales in the context of enabling access to forms relating to licence applications in Welsh and in English.

Mr Richard Holden: The operator licensing system is a GB function responsible for the licensing and regulation of large commercial vehicles. Traffic commissioners are appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport and are deployed by the Senior Traffic Commissioner to eight traffic areas, one of which is Wales. There is a full time Traffic Commissioner for Wales, partly funded by the Welsh Government to carry out specific work for the benefit of Wales. As the Traffic Commissioner for Wales is already responsible for the licensing and regulation of PSV and goods vehicle operators in Wales, there are no current proposals to transfer any further functions. The recent MoJ review of the traffic commissioner functions confirmed existing arrangements, although the need to review existing fees was acknowledged. The traffic commissioners place a great deal of importance for their responsibility in ensuring the compliance with the relevant Welsh language legislation and in promoting the use of the Welsh language. An operator based in Wales is able to choose to correspond in the Welsh language. In 2016, the DVSA launched a new online business system for operators to apply and manage their licences online. Specific development work was carried out to ensure that this service was available both in Welsh and English. Where manual forms are still required, these are available in the Welsh language, as are the majority of guidance forms produced by the Office of the Traffic Commissioner. Further work is being undertaken to update further guidance and in making them more easily accessible.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Television Licences: Fees and Charges

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has plans to review the BBC licence fee.

Sir John Whittingdale: The BBC's funding model faces major challenges to its sustainability due to changes in the way people consume media.We remain committed to reviewing the licence fee model ahead of the next Charter period to explore the potential for alternative ways to ensure the BBC remains appropriately funded over the long-term.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: EU Law

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds searchable IT archives (a) of Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU-sourced regulation and (b) employing the search term out of scope relating to changes to regulatory burdens that could not be reviewed due to its EU origin.

Sir John Whittingdale: The department does not hold searchable IT archives of the regulatory impact analysis estimates for EU-sourced regulations.

BBC

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Director General of the BBC on the BBC report entitled Across the UK, published March 2021.

Sir John Whittingdale: Ministers and officials regularly meet with the BBC to discuss a range of matters, including how it plans to reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country.In May 2022, the Government published updates to the BBC’s Framework Agreement to reflect the BBC’s latest commitments on impartiality, accessibility, and moving more activities outside of London. This includes a number of commitments from the BBC’s “Across the UK” report in March 2021. The BBC must report on all of these new commitments in the BBC’s Annual Report and Accounts.The Government expects Ofcom, as the BBC’s independent regulator, to ensure the BBC is robustly held to account in delivering its public service duties.

Athletics: Facilities

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether oversight structures are in place to regulate the standard of running tracks (a) operated and (b) owned by local authorities in England.

Stuart Andrew: Local Authorities are responsible for maintaining the facilities in their own area including running tracks. The Government's Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, Sport England, provides extensive guidance to support the maintenance of sports facilities, which can be found here.

Swimming Pools: North West

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many council-run swimming pools were open in the North West in (a) December 2019 and (b) June 2023.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of swimming clubs in the North West that have had their home training pool closed down since December 2019.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many council-run swimming pools were open in June (a) 2013 and (b) 2023.

Stuart Andrew: We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.At the Budget, we announced a dedicated £63 million support package for swimming pools, which is targeted at addressing cost pressures facing public swimming pool providers. It will also help provide investment in energy efficiency measures to reduce future operating costs and make facilities sustainable in the long-term. Sport England continues to support swimming, having invested over £12 million in swimming and diving projects since April 2019.While the Government does not hold data on individual swimming clubs, data held by Sport England shows that in the North West, in June 2019, there were 228 Local Authority swimming pools, compared with 224 in June 2023.

Outdoor Recreation: Children and Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the Guide Association on Government support for outdoor adventure centres in (a) Waddow Hall in Lancashire and (b) other places.

Stuart Andrew: The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people.We have guaranteed that by 2025, every young person in England will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and volunteering opportunities. This is supported by over £500 million of investment in youth services.As part of the National Youth Guarantee, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is providing over £16 million to Uniformed Youth Organisations, including Girlguiding, to support them to tackle their waiting lists and create more opportunities for young people to participate in these groups.As an independent organisation it is for Girlguiding to set its own policy. However, the government recognises the importance of Girlguiding’s outdoor adventure centres to many girls and is engaging with Girlguiding on these issues.